Interprofessional collaboration across sectors for unemployed refugees with post-traumatic stress disorder in Denmark: a panacea to person-centered care?

Many refugees suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), influenced by traumatic experiences and post-migration stressors, including unemployment. This complexity calls for person-centered care (PCC) and interprofessional collaboration across sectors. In this qualitative study we aimed to understand what refugees and professionals from two sectors value about participating in cross-sector network meetings to coordinate and agree on shared plans for PTSD treatment and assessing employability. We conducted interviews with 24 unemployed refugees, 10 physicians, and 20 municipal employment case workers. Results from our thematic analysis demonstrated that all participants appreciated the value of coordinating care and agreeing on next steps. However, the meetings were not void of power dynamics. The refugees valued the physicians being health advocates and preferred the physicians to explain mental health challenges. Equally, the employment case workers looked to the physicians to validate the experiences of the refugees. The physicians thus played a central role in helping refugee patients and employment case workers come to a mutual understanding and way forward. Our results suggest that interprofessional collaboration across sectors supports PCC by fostering trust-building and holistic understanding. However, PCC is also challenged by interprofessional collaboration due to the validated information and documentation required by organizational practices.