title: Intersectional perspective in elderly care.
abstract: Earlier research has shown that power relationships at workplaces are constructed by power structures. Processes related to power always influence the working conditions for (in this study in elderly care) the working groups involved. Power structures are central for intersectional analysis, in the sense that the intersectional perspective highlights aspects such as gender and ethnicity (subjective dimensions) and interrelates them to processes of power (objective dimension). This qualitative study aims to explore in what way an intersectional perspective could contribute to increased knowledge of power structures in a nursing home where the employees were mostly immigrants from different countries. By using reflexive dialogues related to an intersectional perspective, new knowledge which contributes to the employees' well-being could develop. Narrative analysis was the method used to conduct this study. Through a multi-stage focus group on six occasions over 6 months, the staff were engaged in intersectional and critical reflections about power relationship with the researchers, by identifying patterns in their professional activities that could be connected to their subjectivities (gender, ethnicity, etc.). The result of this study presents three themes that express the staff's experiences and connect these experiences to structural discrimination. 1) Intersectionality, knowledge, and experiences of professionalism; 2) Intersectionality, knowledge, and experiences of collaboration; and 3) Intersectionality, knowledge, and experiences of discrimination. The result demonstrates that an intersectional perspective reinforces the involved abilities, during the conversations, into being clear about, for example, their experiences of discrimination, and consequently developing a better understanding of their professionalism and collaboration. Such deeper reflections became possible through a process of consciousness raising, strengthening the employee's self-confidence, in a positive way.
authors.affiliation: Sociology, Academy of Health and Welfare, University of Halmstad, Halmstad, Sweden; marta.cuesta@hh.se.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.affiliation: Department of Care, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rämgård
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D009728:Nursing Assistants; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011209:Power, Psychological; D000068616:Professionalism; D036301:Qualitative Research; D063505:Racism; D020377:Self Efficacy; D063507:Sexism; D017132:Workplace
keywords: Power; elderly care; ethnicity; focus group; gender; intersectionality