Volume 10, No. 3

Renato (Rainier) Liboro, Robb Travers, Ketan Shankandass

Stakeholder Perspectives on Ontario's Bill 13: A Macrosystem-level Intervention Supporting Gay-Straight Alliances and Other Initiatives Affirming LGBT Youth

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Researchers have argued for the positive impact education legislation can have as a macrosystem-level intervention on the implementation of microsystem- and mesosystem-level interventions (e.g., Gay-Straight Alliances) empirically documented to support sexual and gender minority students. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative Community-Based Research study that explored the perspectives of advocates for LGBT students from Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, on the impact of Bill 13; a bill purportedly proposed to address the needs of minority youth in publicly-funded schools. This paper emphasizes the value of legislation that is able to both explicitly mandate the implementation of LGBT-affirming initiatives empirically recognized to promote student mental health, and provide flexibility for advocates to develop new initiatives that will meet the specific needs of their minority students. 

Kymberly Byrd, Inés Palmarin, Roxann McNeish, Connie Walker-Egea, Yusuf Ali, Marcos Beleche, Renée Boynton-Jarrett

An Action Research Collaboration to Promote Mental Wellbeing Among Men of Color

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Background: Action research seeks to affect social change by prioritizing partnership and participation. This approach fosters the equitable engagement of marginalized populations in research. In Boston, the marginalization of men of color has resulted in inequitable outcomes in education, employment, health, and other indicators of wellbeing.

Objectives: A Boston-based coalition of community organizations was tasked with developing an action plan to promote mental wellbeing among men of color. The coalition engaged in action research to identify the individual, organizational, and community-level factors that contribute to mental wellbeing.

Methods: The coalition collected 174 surveys and facilitated focus groups with 55 men. The planning process created valuable opportunities for relationship building and partnership development.

Lessons Learned: The planning process reinforced the importance of proactive community engagement, continuous capacity building, inclusive data collection, and cross-sector collaboration.   

Conclusions: Centering lived experience resulted in community-driven, culturally sensitive solutions to promote mental wellbeing among men of color.

Kathleen Worton, Geoffrey Nelson, Tim Aubry, Julian Hasford, Eric Mcnaughton, Catherine Vandelinda, Sam Tsemberis, Jino Distasio, Vicky Stergiopoulos, Angela Yip, Paula Goering

The Development of Regional Networks to Promote Housing First Implementation in CanadaThe Development of Regional Networks to Promote Housing First Implementation in Canada

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While knowledge mobilization strategies, such as training and technical assistance, have been used to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based practices, little is known about the role of networks in influencing implementation. In this article, we describe the role of a variety of networking strategies (regional training events, community of practice teleconference calls, and the creation of regional networks) used to implement Housing First (HF) in Canada during a three-year training and technical assistance initiative. We report on three main findings from research on this initiative. First, data from regional training events (n=110) revealed that 92% of participants wanted a regional HF network. Participants in the regional training events, as well as those who participated HF training needs assessment focus groups (k=11, n=83), believed that the networks should focus on mutual learning and influencing policy and have strong leadership and an open membership. Second, HF training events held in four regions of Canada (the West, the Prairies and northern territories, Ontario, and the Atlantic region) were very positively evaluated by participants (n=276) in terms of their value in increasing HF knowledge and comprehension, and overall satisfaction with the training. Third, field notes (n=146) were used to generate a narrative of HF networks that emerged from training and technical assistance activities, including a province-wide network in Ontario and practitioner-led networks in southwestern Ontario and British Columbia. We discuss how these network activities contributed to capacity-building in HF programs designed to end homelessness in Canada.

Lauren Lichty, Mariah Kornbluh, Jennifer Mortensen, Pennie Foster-Fishman

Claiming Online Space for Empowering Methods: Taking Photovoice to Scale Online

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Photovoice is a participatory action research method that combines documentary photography, individual storytelling, and critical group discussion processes. Curated photographs and stories that constitute the data of Photovoice projects often serve as catalysts for community-driven social change. Traditionally excluded voices are amplified through the strategic dissemination of knowledge generated through Photovoice projects. Past community-based projects have tended to be small, geographically constrained, demanding on participants, and resource intensive, thus limiting the potential for use in large-scale social change efforts across diverse stakeholders. To push the boundaries of Photovoice use within the field of community psychology and other applied settings, this paper introduces an innovative online Photovoice method, discussing in detail the mechanics of developing an online platform as well as key facilitation processes necessary to design an empowering online setting. Through analysis of one project involving 120 youth across one state, we will demonstrate how the move online promotes participant engagement while retaining quality, empowering the participatory processes that are the hallmark of Photovoice projects. Future directions and implications are discussed for this novel methodology to be used within the current sociopolitical context.

Crystal N. Steltenpohl, Amy J. Anderson, Katherine M. Daniels

Giving Community Psychology Away: A case for open access publishing

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Amidst increased pressure for transparency in science, researchers and community members are calling for open access to study stimuli and measures, data, and results. These arguments coincidentally align with calls within community psychology to find innovative ways to support communities and increase the prominence of our field. This paper aims to (1) define the current context for community psychologists in open access publishing, (2) illustrate the alignment between open access publishing and community psychology principles, and (3) demonstrate how to engage in open access publishing using community psychology values. Currently, there are several facilitators (e.g. an increasing number of open access journals, the proliferation of blogs, and social media) and barriers (e.g. Article Processing Charges (APCs), predatory journals) to publishing in open access venues. Openly sharing our research findings aligns with our values of (1) citizen participation, (2) social justice, and (3) collaboration and community strengths. Community psychologists desiring to engage in open access publishing can ask journals to waive APCs, publish pre-prints, use blogs and social media to share results, and push for systemic change in a publishing system that disenfranchises researchers, students, and community members.