Background
Undocumented people are one of the most vulnerable, unprotected, and neglected groups in society. They are lawfully entitled to “medically necessary care”, but multiple barriers prevent them from accessing health care and other public services. Therefore, this research aims to uncover the critical barriers to health care and empower undocumented groups to gain access to health care and other public services.
Objectives & approach
Firstly, this project aims to bridge the health care gap of undocumented people by coordinating and supporting collaborations between undocumented persons, the VU community, and organisations that serve undocumented persons. Moreover, we involve undocumented persons as co-researchers to empower them in their journey of accessing needed care and public services
Secondly, we aim to bridge the gap between education, research, and social justice by enabling the next generation of medical doctors and health care professionals to co-create viable paths to health and public services, together with undocumented people themselves. We do this by enriching and broadening educational approaches in health- and wellbeing-related Master’s and Bachelor’s programmes at VU Amsterdam. Through a Community Service Learning approach we facilitate close collaborations between VU students and NGOs working in the field of provision of health care and human rights, like Amsterdam City Rights.
Lessons and outcomes
Our transdisciplinary team, consisting of faculty members, NGO partners, students, and co-researchers with an undocumented background, worked together with undocumented persons to deliver a co-designed lecture for medical students and design and implement an m-Health application.
The lecture aimed to raise awareness and sensitivity among health students about the health rights of undocumented people and the challenges they face. This lecture was delivered by a student and two undocumented co-researchers. The presence of co-researchers moved the medical students, because the real-life experiences of the co-researchers with an undocumented background made the lecture lively, human, and tangible.
In another intervention, students worked with undocumented people to understand the factors which should be considered when designing and implementing an m-Health-application that aims to improve the access to healthcare for undocumented people in Amsterdam.
In collaboration with Amsterdam City Rights, the project facilitated the engagement of VU students to serve as companions to undocumented individuals in their daily struggle to access health care services. As companions, our students gained an understanding of the challenges faced by the undocumented population through their lived experiences. The students worked closely with Amsterdam City Rights to develop an effective strategy to maximize the impact of their intervention. Emphasising the lived experiences of the undocumented individuals was instrumental in crafting effective interventions.