Public municipal health policy and Human Dignity: fostering new normative expressions.
Projectomschrijving
‘Menselijke waardigheid’ is een leidend thema in het beleid van de afdeling Volksgezondheid van de gemeente Utrecht. Waardigheid wordt belangrijk geacht in de hulpverlening voor mensen die te maken hebben met een stapeling van problemen op psychosociaal en/of sociaaleconomisch vlak. Daarmee is echter nog niet duidelijk wat waardigheid precies is en of en hoe het kan worden bevorderd.
Om inzicht te kunnen bieden in dit vraagstuk zijn ervaringen van (on)waardigheid verzameld door mee te kijken en in gesprek te gaan met hulpontvangers met meervoudige problematiek en met hulpverleners en beleidsmakers gericht op deze groep. Gezien worden of behandeld worden als leegte, voorwerp, kind of monster blijken centraal te staan in de beleving van onwaardigheid. Hiertegenover kunnen vormen van waardigheid geformuleerd worden, namelijk gezien of behandeld worden als: deelnemer, uniek persoon in een unieke situatie, volwassene en vriend. Deze typologie kan gebruikt worden om in de hulpverleningspraktijk en de beleidsprakijk waardigheid beter te begrijpen.
De typologie is dan ook vertaald in vier vignetten voor reflectie, die elk uit een herkenbare casus met leerpotentieel bestaan.
Producten
Auteur: Jante Schmidt Carlo Leget Alistair Niemeijer Evelien Tonkens Margo Trappenburg
Verslagen
Eindverslag
Samenvatting van de aanvraag
As the role of (local) government is changing from supportive to facilitating, it is becoming increasingly vital to take the health and dignity of citizens seriously. Accordingly, the department of Public Health of the city of Utrecht municipal has advanced human dignity, next to positive health, as a leading theme in their public policy, which is also in line with Utrecht as a city of Human Rights (‘Utrecht Mensenrechten Stad’). However, what human dignity refers to exactly is not yet clear, nor what the implications would be for the practice of public health policy. This leads to a practical problem both for policymakers, civil servants and practitioners. This study therefore aims to understand which meanings are given to human dignity in the domain of public health, and what it consequently might consist of. The study focuses on understanding dignity for people with multiple problems, thereby aiming to contribute to the reduction of health disadvantage(s) in general. Departing from a care ethical perspective that views dignity as a feature of relations, the quality of interaction between people in different positions (citizens-civil servants) will be viewed as something which emerges from concrete practices. Methodologically, the study combines conceptual and empirical research activities, in order to develop the normative vignettes. This will be done in close collaboration with the people whom it concerns (citizens with multiple problems and civil servants, according to specific selection criteria). To increase the validity and feasibility of this study, we will work with a research partner (someone who is highly experienced with the Utrecht setting). The study honors an intersectional approach: it takes cultural categories like gender and race into consideration. This study will result in both scientific and societal outcomes: next to the normative vignettes, several policy and scientific papers will be written, submitted to relevant journals and disseminated during a symposium for both scientists and policymakers. By investigating the emergence of dignity in Utrecht, this study tries to give a practical answer to the question how new normative expressions on dignity can be developed in a transitioning society, which can ultimately guide health policies and practices of Dutch local municipalities.