Copyright

Fintan Sheerin

Published On

2025-09-09

Page Range

pp. 193–204

Language

  • English

Print Length

12 pages

8. Engagement and Disengagement: Reflecting on the Challenges for Professionals in Supporting Those Seeking Refuge

Chapter of: Interprofessional Approach to Refugee Health: A Practical Guide for Interdisciplinary Health and Social Care Teams(pp. 193–204)
Human engagement is fundamental to the knowing of others and to providing a basis for true solidarity. Freire (1993) in his famous book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, noted that such engagement supports one to enter into the reality of the other person, the revelation of which compels the two individuals to work together in social action to achieve real change. This chapter understands human engagement as being key to the achievement of de-marginalisation and to building the important links upon which community and community action are premised. In this chapter the author explores human engagement, drawing from his own experiences of working with people across diverse settings, and on what he has gleaned from the writings of others. The author considers the factors that cause distance between people and thus contribute to disengagement, particularly in the context of professional practice, and explores how these may contribute to the attitudinal and, ultimately, physical displacement of devalued people. Moreover, the author contextualises the relationship between disengagement and displacement as an oppressive one and proposes an approach to achieving true engagement.

Contributors

Fintan Sheerin

(author)
Professor of Nursing and the Founding Head of the School of Nursing at Maynooth University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4272-7756

Fintan Sheerin is a Professor of Nursing and the Founding Head of the School of Nursing at Maynooth University. He is a registered General and Intellectual Disability nurse, with extensive experience of nursing across a number of fields of practice. Much of his work has focused on the rights and wellbeing of people with intellectual disability within both Irish and global health contexts. He has also sought to address the issues which impact such wellbeing. He has led the mental health component of the IDS-TILDA research project for several years as well as the development of a national group focused on the human rights of persons with intellectual disabilities in Ireland, which brought together many local and national groups and individuals with intellectual disabilities. His contribution to society is significant. He has led health teams to refugee camps across Europe (Calais, Dunkerque and Lesbos). Caring is core to his values. Over the years, whether in healthcare, social action in refugee camps, community development in Malawi, building inclusion in his hometown, or in academia, he has come to believe in the importance of human engagement. Fintan was made Fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 2024. He is also a Fellow of the European Academy of Nursing Sciences, and NANDA-International.