Geoffrey Maina. (submitted photo/ Geoffrey Maina)

By Nigel Maxwell

Underage drinking

Local researcher using art-based approach to address youth drinking rate

Feb 26, 2019 | 5:41 PM

Based on a recent study, that revealed the drinking rate amongst high school students in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division was 20 per cent higher than the national average, a local researcher has set out to look at the issue through a wider lens.

Doctor Geoffrey Maina with the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan received a grant from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) for an art-based participatory action research method called Photovoice. The students selected for the research project will be asked to take photos that reflect their own realities and experiences with alcohol and substance use.

“They have the power to determine what makes sense and what has meaning to them, we don’t offer them an agenda and we don’t tell them what to look for,” Maina said, adding some examples of photos could include a bottle or a picture of their friends drinking at a party.

Once the students take the photos they will then be asked to talk about the photos with the research team, and explain the meaning behind the pictures. Maina said the second part of the assignment will encourage the students to take photos of what an alternative future would look like for them without drugs or alcohol.

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“Because often substance abuse and addiction is presented in many situations as feelings of hopelessness, but we also want to communicate that there is hope,” he said.

Maina said it is his hope the project will empower the youth and give them a chance to provide direct feedback to the policy makers regarding how alcohol impacts their community. These would be the same policy makers who make decisions such as granting funding for addictions services or issuing permits for private liquor stores.

In February 2018, researchers and stakeholders in education, social, and health sectors based in Prince Albert, met to explore ways to respond to alcohol and drug use in high schools in the city. Out of the meeting the idea for the Photovoice project was hatched.

“Every one of us should be concerned I think when we send our children to school, we should be concerned about the kind of environment [we are sending them to],” he said. “Every effort should be pressed on prevention as opposed to treatment because treating addiction is such a hard job.”

Maina confirmed they are working with a school in Prince Albert and plan to roll out the research project in the fall, with the presentations to follow in January, 2020.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell