Participatory filmmaking and HIV/AIDS education with Indigenous youth in Labrador: exploring knowledge/attitude change and the experiences of Indigenous youth and elders

Landy, Rachel (2019) Participatory filmmaking and HIV/AIDS education with Indigenous youth in Labrador: exploring knowledge/attitude change and the experiences of Indigenous youth and elders. Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Arts-based HIV/AIDS education initiatives with Indigenous youth have become increasingly popular; however, little research addresses their development, effectiveness, and acceptability. This dissertation describes and evaluates a participatory filmmaking and HIV/AIDS education workshop for Indigenous youth in Labrador. Guided by decolonizing principles and adopting a community-based research approach, I collaborated with an Indigenous community organization to develop, implement, and evaluate an arts-based HIV/AIDS education workshop. Workshop participants included eleven youth, ages eleven to seventeen, and five Elders who self-identified as Indigenous. Participatory filmmaking was used to engage participants and create dialogue about HIV/AIDS, sexual health, and health in general. The participants created four films during the 3.5-day workshop. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the youth’s HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitude change post-workshop and to explore the experiences of the youth and Elders. Youth completed a pretest and posttest comprised of the HIV-Knowledge Questionnaire (HIV-KQ-18) and “Your Beliefs” attitude questionnaire immediately before and after the workshop. Approximately two weeks after the workshop, participants were interviewed about their experiences. Analysis of pretest and posttest data using matched t-tests supplemented by Wilcoxon sign rank tests demonstrated that the youth significantly improved their HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes after the workshop for HIV-KQ-18 knowledge scores (t₍₉₎ = 8.093, p < .001) and “Your Beliefs” attitudes scores (t₍₉₎ = 3.674, p = .005). Content analysis of interview transcripts showed that youth participants: learned about HIV; learned about stigma; operationalized new knowledge; learned about healthy relationships; and attributed their knowledge and attitude change to their experience at the workshop. Additional findings include: the youth found participatory filmmaking an acceptable and engaging strategy for HIV/AIDS education; participatory filmmaking allowed youth to create an educational environment; the process of participatory filmmaking facilitated the development of relationships between youth and between youth and Elders; and the youth viewed themselves as HIV/AIDS educators. Analysis of the Elders’ interviews showed that they found the participatory filmmaking process to be a “comfortable” experience; they found the workshop to be a learning environment; and they found that the workshop facilitated relationships between youth and Elders. These findings suggest participatory filmmaking is a promising arts-based approach for HIV/AIDS education with Indigenous youth, providing a good platform for constructive dialogue and engagement among youth, and between youth and Elders. Developing successful strategies for improving HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes is essential to addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth affected and infected by HIV/AIDS in Canada.

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