Interprofessional Approach to Refugee Health: A Practical Guide for Interdisciplinary Health and Social Care Teams

As global displacement reaches unprecedented levels, health and social care professionals increasingly find themselves supporting people with refugee experience whose health and wellbeing needs are complex, urgent, and often unmet. This timely and practical book provides essential guidance for professionals-particularly those new to working in this context-on how to deliver compassionate, culturally responsive, and effective care to forcibly displaced individuals and communities.

Drawing on personal narratives of displacement, international research, global best practices, and firsthand professional experience, this volume addresses the many challenges refugees face in accessing appropriate health and social care, including trauma, chronic illness, mental health conditions, housing insecurity, and language barriers. Contributions from a diverse range of professionals-across nursing, occupational therapy, psychology, psychotherapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, and more-highlight the interprofessional collaboration necessary to meet these multifaceted needs.

Through real-life case studies, reflective prompts, and a strong focus on person-centred, equitable care, this book centres the lived experiences of refugees and emphasizes the importance of listening, learning, and adapting care to each individual's story. A vital resource for practitioners, students, policymakers, and educators, this book bridges the gap between evidence and practice and empowers professionals to build inclusive and responsive systems of care for those affected by forced migration.

Dr. Emer McGowan is an Assistant Professor in Interprofessional Learning at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. She coordinates the interprofessional learning programme across the faculty, fostering collaborative practice among healthcare professionals in training. Dr. McGowan teaches in the Discipline of Physiotherapy, with a particular focus on refugee health. Her research and teaching interests center on the intersection of healthcare education and the needs of refugee populations. She is a collaborator on two EU-funded Erasmus+ projects: the Physiotherapy and Refugee Education Project (PREP) and the Persons with Refugee Experience Project - Interprofessional (PREP-IP). She is the lead author of a scoping review titled "Core competencies for physiotherapists working with refugees: a scoping review", published in Physiotherapy (2019, Vol 108, pp. 10-21). Dr. McGowan has also presented her work on refugee health at international conferences, including the World Physiotherapy Congresses in 2019 and 2021.

Djenana Jalovcic, EdD, MPA, MSc, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Health and Functioning at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL). Throughout her career as an educator, policy advisor, and researcher, her work has focused on global health, health equity and human rights of equity seeking groups including persons with disabilities, older people and refugees. Since 2018 Djenana has worked on two Erasmus+ projects, the Physiotherapy and Refugee Education Project and the Persons with Refugee Experiences Education Project - Interprofessional, where she has contributed to the development of online courses and open educational resources for health professionals in the field of refugee health. Djenana's work on these projects is driven by her dedication to interprofessional education that intersects with her personal experiences as a refugee in the 1990s.

Sarah Quinn is an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy at the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. She brings extensive experience in educating both undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare professionals, with a particular focus on occupational justice and citizenship in the context of marginalised populations, including refugees. Her research and academic interests lie in addressing the occupational needs and rights of forcibly displaced populations. She is currently supervising a PhD student investigating refugee participation in community groups as a means to address occupational injustice. Sarah served as panel moderator for the 2024 symposium, "Bridging the Humanitarian, Peacebuilding, and Development Nexus: Building systems for Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Populations Affected by War, Forced Displacement, and Resettlement through an Implementation Science Lens." She is a co-author of the 2024 oral presentation titled "Community-based groups for reducing occupational deprivation among forcibly displaced populations: a scoping review", presented at the Association of Occupational Therapists Ireland's National Conference. With a strong background in qualitative research, Sarah has worked extensively with marginalised groups such as individuals in prison and those experiencing homelessness, using participatory and justice-oriented approaches in her scholarly work.