EGL Director, Annick Janson was invited to deliver a keynote address at the NASCA 4 September Conference, Wellington. See below more information about what NASCA represents. The Abstract of this presentation is posted below.
Title: Refugees’ stories about Health and
Disability services
Recent research
stresses that beyond marginalization, disabled and older refugees are invisible
to Health and Disability services and to the rest of society, compounding an
already challenging resettlement experience. Stories from families that have had
some experience in navigating these services may be the only source of
meaningful information we can provide to them.
The Refugees
Storytelling project compiles and distributes an audio-visual repository of
oral stories. These peer stories will compensate for and extend the limited
knowledge that disabled and older refugees and their families have of the array
of services available to them. Stories are filmed in participants’ native
languages because some refugees are illiterate in their own language. Other
stories are filmed in English to inform the sector providing services.
Refugee families will
access these digital stories through multiple sources. The knowledge gained
from these stories will improve outcomes for the refugee population and
increase their chances of contributing meaningfully by advocating for their
rights, working or furthering their education.
This project seeks
to accelerate the transition from evidence to practice by providing
pertinent empirical knowledge to both policy makers and professionals working
in the field. The presentation will propose a Professional Development programme in partnership with NASCA to complete this intervention, facilitate implementation and increase intervention
impact. This would involve NASC staff training being directed at enhancing engagement with disabled
and older refugees and their families, using simple yet effective technology.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully
acknowledge the support of the IHC Foundation, SPARK-NZ 2013 for
their mentoring in implementing storytelling methodologies to facilitate the
process of knowledge translation, the Refugee Orientation Center in working
with refugee communities and TalkingTech Foundation for its technology support.
Dr. Janson is a SPARK-NZ 2013 fellow working with the Refugee Orientation Center to implement storytelling methodologies to facilitate the process of knowledge translation. This process accelerates reach from knowledge from the field (refugee voices) to both policy makers and professionals working in the field.
NASCA is the Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination Association. It is the national association for Needs Assessment Services Co-ordination (NASC) agency managers and other senior NASC team members within the disability and health sectors. NASCA's purpose is to further the interests of needs assessment and service coordination for children and adults with disabilities, older people, and people with mental health needs. Its mission is to “provide national strategic leadership, promoting growth and service excellence”.
NASC services are contracted by the Ministry of Health or District Health Boards to serve: people with disabilities, people with mental health issues and older people needing age-related support. There are 15 younger peoples NASCs and 21 older peoples NASCs based throughout New Zealand. They facilitate needs assessment, service planning and co-ordination and resource allocation.
