Latent conflicts in interactions between Turkish-Dutch patients and Dutch health professionals

Abstract

This dissertation departs from the premise that differences in perceptions of encounters might exist that are not addressed during encounters between Dutch practitioners and Turkish-Dutch patients. It focuses on 1) different perceptions of general practitioner-patient encounters, 2) differences in what is viewed as causes for mental problems and 3) in the ways that these problems are emotionally expressed. These differences in perceptions caused by differences in socialization (cultural differences) are often not communicated during encounters and might result in latent conflicts between practitioners and patients. This dissertation reports a qualitative study on latent conflicts between Turkish-Dutch patients and Dutch (mental) health professionals. It took an interdisciplinary approach to medical communication and drew from the fields of intercultural health communication, transcultural psychiatry, public health, and the sociology of emotions, providing important insights into latent conflicts during intercultural encounters with implications for the scientific literature, policy and clinical practice. The aim of this research was to arrive at a better understanding of these conflicts to improve culturally responsive mental health care.