Publications

Comprehensive sexuality education often fails 2SLGBTQ+ people with developmental disabilities, leaving gaps that many fill online. Researchers interviewed twelve 2SLGBTQ+ adults with developmental disabilities in Alberta, Canada, about how they use social media to learn about sex, gender identity and sexuality, navigate their identities and find community. Participants described turning to 2SLGBTQ+-focused content for information that school and other offline settings did not provide, including gender pronouns, gender identity and sexual orientations. Online spaces also offered belonging and affirmation that was frequently missing in person. Accessibility and digital literacy barriers persist, but the benefits participants described were substantial and hard to replace.

Photovoice moved online during the pandemic, but how virtual versions handle participatory action research and knowledge dissemination has been unclear. Reflecting on a virtual photovoice study of men's experiences and views of equitable intimate partner relationships, this methodological article offers three lessons. First, selecting representative images from 714 participant photographs required adapting preview, review, and cross-photo comparison techniques while honouring participatory principles. Second, Zoom polls let participants vote anonymously on favourite photographs, which equalised input though it also surfaced differing cultural norms across locations. Third, online exhibitions reach diverse audiences only with deliberate marketing, media attention, and interactivity that sustains engagement.

Older trans and gender-diverse people are rarely the focus of research on aging and care. This Canadian qualitative study convened six virtual focus groups with 21 participants, including TGD adults aged 50 and over, service providers and community advocates, to examine healthcare and social service experiences and needs. Guided by critical gerontology and intersectionality, and using interpretive description, the researchers compared perspectives across those groups. Histories of marginalization, precarity, ongoing intersectional oppression and resistance all shaped how participants engaged with systems of care, while community-driven, ground-up efforts emerged as a key response to evolving needs, with implications for policy and practice.

How does substance use figure in the stories 2S/LGBTQ+ young people tell about becoming homeless? This community-based photovoice study in Vancouver worked with 32 young people who took their own photographs and discussed them in interviews, analysed through a constructionist narrative approach. Two storylines emerged. Taking refuge described using substances to cope with intersecting hardships and minority stressors while growing up and while moving into homelessness. Playing into precarity described sexualised crystal methamphetamine use as offering connection and release while also bringing discomfort, including eviction from the family home. The authors call for tailored, harm reduction-oriented support before and after youth lose housing.

Clinicians and researchers invited to speak at the Canadian Nutrition Society's 2023 thematic conference turned their attention to inequities in eating disorder care. This overview gathers the topics they covered, spanning advances and remaining gaps in the assessment and treatment of disordered eating and eating disorders. Speakers stressed how systemic factors, including racism, weight stigma, and COVID-19, shape who gets identified and how they are treated, and proposed strategies for addressing those inequities. The paper translates the discussion into actionable recommendations for clinicians, with attention to professional development, cultural competence, and more equitable assessment and treatment practices overall.