Conférence de l'IUFRS - Pre Janet McCord - "My life is full of empty promises and broken dreams": Migrants, impact of loss & grief, and how healthcare professionnals can help

"My life is full of empty promises and broken dreams": Migrants, impact of loss & grief, and how healthcare professionnals can help

Over 89 million people have been forcibly displaced as of 2021, including 36.5 million below age 18. Most share a struggle with what Pauline Boss called ambiguous grief and loss (1999). Disenfranchised grief (Doka, 2002) may become a factor as individuals may feel denied the right to grieve as well as the social support essential to overcoming the multiple losses connected with being a migrant or refugee. For many, their experiences are often characterized by hopes for refuge, longing for the past, and an endless sense of loss.

This presentation will first focus (through a couple of examples) on the human experience of being a refugee or migrant – their contexts, challenges, struggles, losses, and grief. Separation from family and friends is a primary loss that is compounded by secondary losses such as such as communities, patriotic identity, and assumptive world.

Then, the presentation will turn to what healthcare professionals need to know. Levels of grief connected with ambiguous loss can have a profound impact on physical health and mental well-being. Many migrants have experienced trauma, conflict, and violence and may be fearful of seeking medical or mental health care. This presentation will examine some common health conditions migrants and refugees experience, barriers they face to accessing healthcare, and strategies for healthcare professionals to support migrants and refugees.

The conference will be held in English and live-streamed via WEBEX.
La conférence se déroulera en anglais et sera transmise en direct via WEBEX. 

Quand? Lundi 28 octobre 2024 | 16h
Où? CHUV Bâtiment hospitalier (BH08) - Auditoire Auguste Tissot & online (WEBEX link)
Langage? Anglais

Janet McCord, PhD, FT, Professor of Thanatology and Thanatology Program Director at Edgewood College, has been a thanatologist and suicidologist for over 30 years. She is a death educator who teaches a broad array of topics in thanatology and suicidology and has educated hundreds of master’s level students around the globe in graduate thanatology programs. She is a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG) since 2016 and embraces the IWG’s vision as her own: a world where dying, death, and bereavement are an open part of all cultures.

Her research interests include the investigation of global and cultural perspectives of trauma, dying, death, grief, suicide, and loss, and the intersection of thanatology with literature and the arts. She is in the process of conducting research on death and funeral rituals among the Acholi and BaGanda peoples of Uganda, and plans to expand this research to other low-income countries. She currently serves as a Thanatology Section Editor for the Routledge Online Resources: Death, Dying, and Bereavement, and has published peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, book chapters, and contributed to a range of projects as an author or reviewer.

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About "Les conférences de l'IUFRS"

The IUFRS conferences are a seminar series centered on topics of research and practice in nursing and healthcare.

• Target audience: Healthcare researchers and clinicians, graduate and PhD students in the nursing and healthcare sciences
• Format: Hybrid (in-person & online)
• Duration: Expert talk (40 min), followed by a Q&A (15 min)
• Language: French, English or bilingually (depending on the speaker)

En savoir plus sur "Les conférences de l'IUFRS"

Les conférences de l'IUFRS sont une série de seminaires centrés sur des sujets de recherche et de pratique en sciences infirmières et sciences de la santé.

• Public cible: Chercheur·euses et clinicien·nes, étudiant·es Master et doctorant·es en sciences infirmières et sciences de la santé
• Format: Hybride (en présentiel & en ligne)
• Durée: Présentation par un·e expert·e (40 min), suivi par Q/R(15 min)
• Langue: Français, anglais ou bilïngue (selon expert·e invité·e)

Plus d'informations: Les conférences de l'IUFRS