Contesting Representations of Refugee‑Background Women (and Men) as ‘Needy’ and ‘Problematic’ in Healthcare Literature in Aotearoa New Zealand: Advancing the Case for a Capability‑Driven Model

This research analyses how power operates discursively within the western biomedical model as it pertains to the representations and treatment of refugee‑background women (and men) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It carefully investigates the tendency of current biomedical discourse to typecast women (and men) with refugee backgrounds as having considerable health needs, which predicates the (over‑) representation of them as exclusively ‘problematic’ and ‘needy’ throughout refugee and healthcare related literature. It also considers other ways in which the western biomedical model may be inappropriate and inadequate for refugee‑background communities.