Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

People who live with chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes, arthritis, lupus) must undertake a variety of tasks to monitor and manage their health (self-management). Understandably, these extra responsibilities can be stressful and people living with chronic illnesses may be frustrated and overwhelmed by self-management. This can lead to negative feelings about their illness and limit their ability to manage to their health. Considering the challenges of self-management, my proposed research will develop an arts-based workshop series to support people in managing their illness. An intersectional feminist framework guides the research, to consider how one's identity (race, gender, economic status, etc) shapes everyday experiences. Additionally, an advisory board of people living with chronic illnesses will help make research decisions, so the research findings are relevant and have real-world impact. Previous studies show that creativity can help people cope with stressors and my research applies this finding to examine how creativity can support chronic illness self-management. As such, the workshop series will give participants a chance to undertake creative arts projects about their experiences of chronic illness self-management. Further, the artistic process will help participants generate new insights about living with illness, which may foster positive feelings about their illness and a sense of empowerment toward self-management. Each participant will be interviewed before and after the workshop series to see if creating art influenced their approach to self-management. Interviews will also explore barriers and facilitators to self-management, so that health services can better support people living with chronic illnesses. The research findings will be shared broadly, with both healthcare providers and the general public through presentations, publications, and an art exhibition.