After spending years working with survivors of human trafficking in Nepal, several of whom were also living with HIV, Dr. Rita Dhungel set out to understand the experience of immigrants and refugees living with HIV in Alberta.

With funding from the university's Office of Research Services, the assistant professor of social work designed a community-based participatory research project that used surveys and photovoice – a research method that uses images selected or taken by participants to explore their feelings, emotions and experiences.

“We wanted to provide a platform to share the voices of people who show so much strength in facing the many intersectional oppressions in their lives,” says Dr. Dhungel. “There is a need for them to be heard and supported.”

The response to the study’s call for participants reflected that need. More than 100 people completed the survey portion of the research (with many others asking to contribute even after the survey was closed.) Another 13 participants took part in the photovoice aspect of the project, which involved an introductory workshop, selecting up to five photos that reflected their life and experiences, interviews to capture their descriptions of the images and a final meeting for participants to validate or change their responses. 

The result is a collection of 30 images compiled into an exhibit in the John L. Haar Library, beginning on World Aids Day (December 1) and until December 8.

Together, the collection reveals several challenges and barriers immigrants and refugees living with HIV faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including loneliness and depression, stigma and community violence, lack of supportive housing and nutritious food, and access to mental health and counselling services.  

“It is difficult to believe that some of these challenges, like the stigma that comes from a lack of understanding of how HIV is transmitted, still exist in Canada,” says Dr. Dhungel. “But while there are many significant issues – including housing and food insecurity – the biggest need is access to proper mental health and counselling services.” 

Throughout the research process, Dr. Dhungel says that the photovoice process illustrated just how much people appreciated having an opportunity to come together and share their experiences, learn from each other and realize that they are not alone in what they are going through, especially during COVID -19.

“People are experiencing incredible feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression and other mental health and psychological well-being issues,” she says. “Our one-size-fits-all model for counselling does not adequately address their challenges.” 

Dr. Dhungel hopes that shedding light on the needs and gaps in existing services through community-based participatory research, community events, audio-visual exhibitions, podcasts, digital storytelling and music could help inform policy and program development, and promote social change.

How research can help contribute to creating that change is one of the main takeaways that Megan Heximer, one of six students from MacEwan and the University of Calgary who assisted with the project, says she gained from the experience. 

“Working as a practicum student on this project not only gave me a deeper understanding of clients’ needs and the importance of using a client-centred approach that takes into account their voices,” says Heximer, a third-year student in the program, “it also showed me the value of research and how social work, as a profession, can use research to assess needs and gaps in services.”