Re-imagining Young Adult Cancer Care Through Applied Theatre & Immersive Performance
Re-imagining Young Adult Cancer Care
Through Applied Theatre & Immersive Performance
Each year in Canada, over 8,300 young adults (people aged between 15- 39) are diagnosed with cancer. The unique needs of young adults remain largely unmet by cancer care systems. Further, young adults have a clear understanding of how to improve care and want to play a more active role in doing so.
Weaving together three distinct yet complementary methodologies: Patient Activated Research, Participatory Action Research, and Performance As Research, we worked with young adults as co-researchers to co-produce an immersive theatre experience to share a felt sense of what it like to navigate cancer as a young adult.
“These stories help you understand what you think you know about (Young Adult) cancer in a different way.”
-Young adult with lived experience with cancer
This multi-sensory, immersive theatre experience was designed with young adults and builds on the creative insights and learnings from Anew research projects and partnered creative initiatives including, among others:
The PAR³TY Project (2020) jointly undertaken with a group of teens with lived cancer experience in the United Kingdom to produce a series of powerful, perspective changing videos about young adult cancer
The Yes…and – Unravelling the Complexities of Young Adult Cancer workshop series (2022) which brought together a Canadian group of young adults with lived experience of cancer to co-create a collection of videos to help share the young adult cancer experience in deeply emotive ways.
The Share Your Creative Spark – Make Your Mark to Reshape Young Adult Cancer workshop series (2023) which engaged young adults from across Canada to explore their cancer experiences through various artistic mediums resulting in an impressive gallery of impactful works.
The immersive experience, titled “Imagine…Reshaping Young Adult Cancer Care Through Immersive Experience”, debuted at the 2024 BC Cancer Summit where 100+ clinicians and care providers participated in at-capacity performances throughout this three-day conference.
The above research is generously supported by Royal Roads University, Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund, the Vancouver Foundation, Michael Smith Health Research, the British Academy, the University of Leeds, BC Cancer, Young Adult Cancer Canada, and InspireHealth
PAR³:
Patient Activated Research (often referred to as Patient-Oriented Research) – patients take the lead in deciding/choosing what they want to say about the topic and how they want to share it;
Participatory Action Research – everyone contributes their own knowledge to learn from each other, and then collectively consider improvements and change; and
Performance as Research – co-researchers experiment with performance-based techniques to find the most impactful way to embody their insights in a creative piece that they can then showcase to a select audience.
