Striving in uncertainty: how disabled refugee women negotiate everyday activities and participation.

Abstract\nPoints of interestDisabled refugee women can experience a lack of possibilities for social participation in their new country, which can impact their health and well-being. Intersectional approaches that acknowledge the participatory needs of disabled refugees are missing in policies and regulations. This study highlights the capabilities that disabled refugee women use to construct their everyday lives and to experience social participation. For more than one year, interviews and participant observation were carried out with three disabled refugee women. Various qualitative methods have been used to understand the women’s everyday lives in an urban area of Sweden. Through an intersectional lens, unequal conditions that affect social participation and access to the health and social care systems were identified, as were individual resources that women use to overcome barriers that would keep them from participating in the new society.Disabled refugee women’s experiences can offer unique perspectives needed to better understand health and social participation.Participation barriers and opportunities from disabled refugee women’s perspective can be explored by paying attention to everyday practices.This study highlights simultaneous discrimination that leads to inequality and exclusion, such as gender, migration, and disability.Disabled refugee women’s stories illustrate the challenges and capabilities that are neglected in discussions about health and social services.Disabled refugee women’s experiences can offer unique perspectives needed to better understand health and social participation.Participation barriers and opportunities from disabled refugee women’s perspective can be explored by paying attention to everyday practices.This study highlights simultaneous discrimination that leads to inequality and exclusion, such as gender, migration, and disability.Disabled refugee women’s stories illustrate the challenges and capabilities that are neglected in discussions about health and social services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]