The Impact of Indigenous Youth Sharing Digital Stories About HIV Activism.

INTRODUCTION: This article reports on the micro-, meso-, and macro-level impacts of sharing digital stories created by Indigenous youth leaders about HIV prevention activism in Canada. METHOD: Eighteen participants created digital stories and hosted screenings in their own communities to foster dialogue. Data for this article are drawn from individual semistructured interviews with the youth leaders, audio-recordings of audience reflections, and research team member's field notes collected between 2012 and 2015 across Canada. Data were coded using NVivo. A content analysis approach guided analysis. RESULTS: The process of sharing their digital stories had a positive impact on the youth themselves and their communities. Stories also reached policymakers. They challenged conventional public health messaging by situating HIV in the context of Indigenous holistic conceptions of health. DISCUSSION: The impact(s) of sharing digital stories were felt most strongly by their creators but rippled out to create waves of change for many touched by them. More research is warranted to examine the ways that the products of participatory visual methodologies can be powerful tools in creating social change and reducing health disparities.

Body Mapping as a Youth Sexual Health Intervention and Data Collection Tool.

In this article, we describe and evaluate body mapping as (a) an arts-based activity within Fostering Open eXpression Among Youth (FOXY), an educational intervention targeting Northwest Territories (NWT) youth, and (b) a research data collection tool. Data included individual interviews with 41 female participants (aged 13-17 years) who attended FOXY body mapping workshops in six communities in 2013, field notes taken by the researcher during the workshops and interviews, and written reflections from seven FOXY facilitators on the body mapping process (from 2013 to 2016). Thematic analysis explored the utility of body mapping using a developmental evaluation methodology. The results show body mapping is an intervention tool that supports and encourages participant self-reflection, introspection, personal connectedness, and processing difficult emotions. Body mapping is also a data collection catalyst that enables trust and youth voice in research, reduces verbal communication barriers, and facilitates the collection of rich data regarding personal experiences.

'Women are supposed to be the leaders': intersections of gender, race and colonisation in HIV prevention with Indigenous young people.

Focusing on gender, race and colonialism, this paper foregrounds the voices of Indigenous young people, their histories of oppression, their legacies of resistance and the continuing strengths rooted in Indigenous peoples, their cultures and their communities. Exploring the relationship between gender and colonialism, the paper speaks to the lived realities of young people from Indigenous communities across Canada. Over 85 young people participated in six different Indigenous community workshops to create artistic pieces that explored the connections between HIV, individual risk and structural inequalities. In the course of the research, Indigenous young people, and young Indigenous women in particular, talked about how gender intersects with race and colonisation to create experiences that are, at times, especially difficult for them. In this paper, young people discuss the ways in which colonialism has demeaned women's roles and degraded women's sexuality, and how continuing cultural erasure and assimilationist policies impact on their lives and on their bodies.

Survey design from the ground up: collaboratively creating the Toronto Teen Survey.

The Toronto Teen Survey is a community-based participatory research study whose aim is to gather information on the accessibility and relevance of sexual health services for diverse groups of urban youth (13 to 17 years of age). This information will be used to develop a proactive, citywide strategy to improve sexual health outcomes for Toronto adolescents. In this article, the authors focus on the processes of collaboratively developing a survey tool with youth, academics, and community stakeholders. An overview of the project and examples from the design stage are provided. In addition, recommendations are given toward developing best practices when working with young people on research and survey design.

Social Ecological Factors of Sexual Subjectivity and Contraceptive Use and Access Among Young Women in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Adolescent women in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, experience many sexual health challenges that are linked to a history of colonization and intergenerational effects of trauma. This study was informed by social ecological theory and explored how young women in the NWT develop sexual subjectivity within the context of contraception use and access during this time of decolonization. A total of 41 participants (aged 13 to 17 years) attended the Fostering Open eXpression among Youth (FOXY) body-mapping intervention in six NWT communities and then completed semistructured interviews. Framework analysis identified barriers to the development of sexual subjectivity that included a culture of stigma and shame surrounding sexuality; pervasive alcohol use in communities; predatory behaviors by older men; poor quality sexual health education offered in schools; and issues with accessing health services. In addition, analysis identified the following facilitators: comprehensive sexual health education; widespread access to free condoms; and positive health support networks with female relatives, peers, and some teachers. Our findings suggest the need for multiple intervention strategies within a complex social ecological framework, including arts-based interventions that focus on developing self-esteem and self-efficacy of youth, combined with interpersonal interventions that strengthen communication skills among supportive adults, and community-level campaigns that target stigma reduction and shift cultural norms.

HIV risk, systemic inequities, and Aboriginal youth: widening the circle for HIV prevention programming.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, Aboriginal people are overrepresented in the HIV epidemic and infected at a younger age than non-Aboriginal people. This paper discusses some of the ways Aboriginal youth in Toronto understand HIV/AIDS risk and the relevance of their comments for HIV prevention education. This research is part of a larger study conducted with Ontario youth through the Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention (GAAP) project. METHODS: We conducted 11 GAAP focus groups with Ontario youth. This paper focuses primarily on the four groups of Aboriginal youth. A modified grounded theory approach guided analyses. Data were coded using Nud*ist qualitative data management software. FINDINGS: Aboriginal youth were more aware of HIV/AIDS and the structural inequities that contribute to risk than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. In addition, they were the only group to talk about colonialism in the context of HIV in their community. Aboriginal youth were, however, more likely to hold a fatalistic view of their future and to blame their own community for high infection rates. INTERPRETATION: We argue for incorporating structural factors of risk, including the legacy of colonialism, in HIV prevention programs for all youth. This may help to eradicate the stigma and self-blame that negatively impact on Aboriginal youth while allowing other youth populations to distance themselves from the disease.

Beyond "healthy eating" and "healthy weights": harassment and the health curriculum in middle schools.

In this paper we use data from interviews conducted with grades 7 and 8 girls to explore connections between body-based harassment and girls' body modification practices. We discuss how the elementary health curricula fail to consider harassment and other cultural factors that influence the body modification practices and eating patterns of diverse girls. More specifically, we argue that the "healthy eating, healthy weights" approach of the grades 7 and 8 Ontario health curriculum has five limitations: (1) it sends contradictory messages; (2) it increases anxieties about body weight; (3) it ignores the multiple causes of eating problems; (4) it marginalizes issues most relevant to racialized girls; and (5) it ignores dilemmas associated with physical development. We conclude with suggestions for developing a curriculum on body dissatisfaction and eating disorders prevention that considers the various socio-cultural factors influencing the range of body monitoring and modifying practices taken up by girls.