Community-Based Participatory Action Research with Lgbtqia+ Youth in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a Collaborative Autoethnography

Introduction: This collaborative autoethnography (CAE) involved a process of collective knowledge generation and critical analysis by community stakeholders (LGBTQIA+ youth, clinicians) and social work academics (tenure-track faculty, doctoral students). A CAE was used to evaluate how the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic impacted a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project involving LGBTQIA+ youth mental health intervention development, implementation, and evaluation. The findings of this CAE illuminate the importance of building trust, trauma-informed accessibility, centering LGBTQIA+ youth voices, and prioritizing relationships and community building with LGBTQIA+ youth. LGBTQIA+ youth are a vulnerable population currently experiencing disproportionate mental health outcomes and significant legislative attacks against them across the U.S. (e.g., bans on discussions/literature related to sexual orientation or gender identities in school, limiting participation in sports, and curtailing access to medical care for transgender/gender-diverse youth). Moreover, LGBTQIA+ youth are often overlooked in social work research and practice, making CBPAR a particularly useful research method to uplift LGBTQIA+ youth voices. CBPAR inherently encompasses researcher critical reflection and reflexivity, providing opportunities for actionable outcomes. We engaged in a CAE to explore the impact COVID-19 had on CBPAR with LGBTQIA+ youth. One of our main research questions asks: What are helpful strategies and approaches for engaging LGBTQIA+ youth in CBPAR amid the pandemic?

Methods: CAE, with a focus on knowledge creation and power sharing, aligned with the authors’ CBPAR approach and values. The research team consisted of 8 researchers including LGBTQIA+ youth, social work faculty, doctoral students, and clinical social workers. Team members engaged in reflexive narrative responses to research questions, which were reviewed using CAE’s evocative and analytical (e.g., systematically collecting, reviewing, and analyzing data from multiple sources) approaches. Randomly assigned transcripts were individually read, coded and memoed, and then reviewed as a team in multiple meetings to identify emergent codes and concepts. A final meeting consisted of revisiting and finalizing top themes. Individuals who wrote critical reflections were offered opportunities to participate in group sharing, meaning-making, coding, data analysis and group writing.

Results: Three main themes emerged: 1) Enhancing Accessibility 2) Centering the Voices of LGBTQIA+ Youth; and 3) Prioritizing Relationships and Community Building. Trust emerged as an overarching theme, as the process of building trust was central in effectively implementing CBPAR and maintaining LGBTQIA+ youth participation and engagement using virtual platforms during the pandemic.

Conclusions: Many seemingly small but significant aspects of our CBPAR process were trauma-informed and accessible, which indicated to participants that care was taken by the research team to center the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth co-researchers. Conducting CBPAR also involved facilitating a sense of empowerment and intentional power-sharing, which youth found affirming and supported them in finding “one’s voice.” In alignment with social work values and practice, establishing trust in group work can help transcend group work practice and reflect greater community building for social change. Findings suggest important strategies for engaging in CBPAR with disenfranchised and excluded communities, such as LGBTQIA+ youth, in the enduring pandemic. Implications for social work research, teaching, and practice will be explored.