Presentation Information
[SY-61-03]Culture and Care in Practice: A Greenlandic Forensic Psychiatric Ward in Denmark
*Morten Deleuran Terkildsen1,2,4, Parnûna Heilmann3, Karen Aalling Mikkelsen1, Irene Thorsager Kruitbosch Jensen1, Ida Margrethe Nielsen1,3, Harry Kennedy1,2,5, Lisbeth Uhrskov Sørensen1,2 (1.Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry, Denmark(Denmark), 2.Department of Clinical Medicine, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark(Denmark), 3.Psychiatric Area, Queen Ingrid’s Hospital, Nuuk, Greenland(Greenland), 4.DEFACTUM - Public Health Research, Aarhus, Denmark(Denmark), 5.Trinity College Dublin, Dublin(Ireland))
Keywords:
Forensic Psychiatry,Cultural Psychiatry,Culturally Adapted Care
Abstract:
In many forensic psychiatric settings, patients from minority backgrounds must navigate systems embedded with unfamiliar cultural norms. These environments can hinder therapeutic relationships and complicate rehabilitation. This presentation offers a different perspective by exploring a forensic psychiatric ward in Denmark that exclusively treats Greenlandic patients and is designed to reflect and support Greenlandic culture.
At this ward, culture is not peripheral—it is central. Greenlandic-speaking staff, a full-time interpreter, and culturally specific activities such as kaffemik, traditional foods, and national celebrations create a setting where patients are to feel seen and understood. The physical environment is adorned with Greenlandic art and motifs, and the structure of daily life incorporates both therapeutic and culturally meaningful practices. Patients follow personalized weekly schedules, and progression toward greater freedoms is tied to active participation in this culturally integrated mode of care.
Rather than framing culture as a challenge to overcome, this ward illustrates how it can be a vehicle for therapeutic stability, emotional safety, and identity continuity. The design of care here invites reflection on how institutions can create belonging for those who are otherwise socially and geographically displaced.
As forensic psychiatry continues to engage with the complexities of cultural difference, this case invites reflection on a subtle tension: when culture becomes central to care, how can we ensure that the individual, their unique experiences, needs, and personal history, remains fully visible? Might a strong emphasis on shared cultural identity, however well-intentioned, risk overlooking the diversity that exists within cultural groups themselves?
In many forensic psychiatric settings, patients from minority backgrounds must navigate systems embedded with unfamiliar cultural norms. These environments can hinder therapeutic relationships and complicate rehabilitation. This presentation offers a different perspective by exploring a forensic psychiatric ward in Denmark that exclusively treats Greenlandic patients and is designed to reflect and support Greenlandic culture.
At this ward, culture is not peripheral—it is central. Greenlandic-speaking staff, a full-time interpreter, and culturally specific activities such as kaffemik, traditional foods, and national celebrations create a setting where patients are to feel seen and understood. The physical environment is adorned with Greenlandic art and motifs, and the structure of daily life incorporates both therapeutic and culturally meaningful practices. Patients follow personalized weekly schedules, and progression toward greater freedoms is tied to active participation in this culturally integrated mode of care.
Rather than framing culture as a challenge to overcome, this ward illustrates how it can be a vehicle for therapeutic stability, emotional safety, and identity continuity. The design of care here invites reflection on how institutions can create belonging for those who are otherwise socially and geographically displaced.
As forensic psychiatry continues to engage with the complexities of cultural difference, this case invites reflection on a subtle tension: when culture becomes central to care, how can we ensure that the individual, their unique experiences, needs, and personal history, remains fully visible? Might a strong emphasis on shared cultural identity, however well-intentioned, risk overlooking the diversity that exists within cultural groups themselves?