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Almost half of all Canadians live with sensory, cognitive, or physical impairment due to injury, illness, or ageing. Yet, research investigating the complex relationship between well-being and impairment is limited. Existing research has largely rendered invisible peoples’ experiences of a good life while living with impairment. In response, researchers are calling for interdisciplinary research that integrates new paradigms. Using innovative qualitative and visual research methods, our team will work with 24 women living with impairment as a result of cancer and/or its treatments to explore how creative practices can contribute to new understandings of a good life. Participants will be invited to complete mixed-media arts workshops during which they will create artwork representing their experiences of well-being while living with impairment. After the workshops, each participant will be asked to complete an individual interview about their experiences and their creative work. Next, a rough cut of a film will be produced from the workshop recordings and participants will be invited to provide feedback at a private screening. The research will culminate in a public screening of the film and an exhibit of participants’ work. Audience members (health professionals, students, participants, and the general public) will participate in a discussion following the screening and will be asked to complete a short survey about the event. This research will enhance public understandings of what it means to live well with impairment. In addition, the research will potentially impact health practices through querying dominant biomedical paradigms focused on curative approaches and distress.

There is a significant knowledge-to-action gap in cancer survivorship care for First Nations (FN) communities. To date, many approaches to survivorship have not been culturally responsive or community-based. This study is using an Indigenous knowledge translation (KT) approach to mobilize community-based knowledge about cancer survivorship into health-care programs. Our team includes health-care providers and cancer survivors from an FN community in Canada and an urban hospital that delivers Cancer Care Ontario’s Aboriginal Cancer Program. Together, we will study the knowledge-to-action process to inform future KT research with Indigenous peoples for improving health-care delivery and outcomes. The study will be conducted in settings where research relations and partnerships have been established through our parent study, The National Picture Project. The inclusion of community liaisons and the continued engagement of participants from our parent study will foster inclusiveness and far-reaching messaging. Knowledge about unique cancer survivorship needs co-created with FN people in the parent study will be mobilized to improve cancer follow-up care and to enhance quality of life. Findings will be used to plan a large-scale implementation study across Canada.

Trauma-informed care is an emerging concept that acknowledges the lasting effects of trauma. Nurses are uniquely positioned to play an integral role in the advancement of trauma-informed care. However, knowledge related to trauma-informed care in nursing practice remains limited. The purpose of this article is to present the results of a qualitative study which explored nurses’ understandings and experiences related to trauma-informed care. Seven semistructured interviews were conducted with nurses and four categories emerged from the analysis: (a) Conceptualizing Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care, (b) Nursing Care and Trauma, (c) Context of Trauma-Informed Care, and (d) Dynamics of the Nurse–Patient Relationship in the Face of Trauma. These findings highlight important considerations for trauma-informed care including the complex dynamics of trauma that affect care, the need to push knowledge about trauma beyond mental health care, and noteworthy parallels between nursing care and trauma-informed care.

Nearly 40% of Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and people with cancer are increasingly turning to the Internet to bolster support and information received from health-care providers. However, little is known about the role of the Internet in patients’ interactions with the health-care system. The goals of this study are (1) to qualitatively explore the content of commonly used websites from a holistic nursing perspective, (2) to explore the prompts to use the Internet and how it informs the ways patients utilize and interact with health services, and (3) to document the types of Internet resources and amounts of usage. This study is guided by a constructivist mixed methods design. Interpretive description will guide the overarching qualitative component, including an analysis of data from commonly used websites and interviews with 16 newly diagnosed individuals. Open-ended interviews will clarify, through exploration, the role of the Internet in participants’ health system interactions. A survey of Internet use will add insight and depth about where, when, and how participants use the Internet. All interviews and website data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics will illustrate a summary of Internet usage. Triangulation of findings will provide oncology nurses and interdisciplinary team members with insight into how patients’ use of the Internet informs their use of health services. Methodologically, this study advances the use of qualitative methods for websites analysis, on which relatively little has been documented.

Little is known about First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) women's experiences with cancer, including how they relate to cultural and social factors such as geography, history, racism, identity, traditional values/practices, and spirituality. Research into FNIM women's strengths and challenges in relation to cancer is much needed. Our team, in partnership with Saint Elizabeth Health, is documenting the experiences and needs of 60 FNIM cancer survivors across Canada, using sharing sessions, photography (photovoice), journaling, and film. We will evaluate the impact of photography and journaling on the participants to assist with the future development of supportive programs and health- care delivery. This innovative research will result in a video, which will address gaps in knowledge and care. The video will then be screened in several communities and will be publicly available. In future projects, the findings and video will be used in supportive programs for cancer survivors and in educational initiatives for health professionals.