1 York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. Electronic address: sarah.switzer@utoronto.ca.
2 York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada.
3 Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada.
4 Casey House Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1P2, Canada; McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L8, Canada.
5 Empower, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2R4, Canada.
6 Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 2E6, Canada.
7 Casey House Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1P2, Canada.
8 University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada.
9 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada.

Journeying together: A visual exploration of "engagement" as a journey in HIV programming and service delivery.

Health Place. 2020 Jan;61:102247

Authors: Switzer S, Flicker S, McClelland A, Chan Carusone S, Ferguson TB, Herelle N, Yee D, Guta A, Strike C

Abstract

The experiences of people living with, or impacted by HIV, who participate in research and programming are relatively-well documented. However, how stakeholders within the HIV sector understand engagement, or how it functions discursively, is undertheorized. We used a comparative case study design and photovoice to explore engagement in three community-based organizations providing HIV programs or services in Toronto, Canada. We invited stakeholders to photograph their subjective understandings of engagement. We employ a visual and thematic analysis of our findings, by focusing on participants' use of journey metaphors to discuss engagement within and across sites. Visual metaphors of journey were employed by participants to make sense of their experience, and demonstrated that for many, engagement was a dynamic, affective and relational process. Our findings illustrate how journey may be an apt metaphor to explore the relational, contingent and socio-spatial/political specificities of engagement within and across HIV organizations. We conclude with a discussion on implications for practice.

PMID: 32329724 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]