This presentation describes a digital storytelling project carried out with young adults from Ontario and Alberta. Participants’ stories provided insights typically absent from cannabis research, treatment and policy discussions. A significant outcome was the co-creation of a supportive community that principles of peer support to life.
Presenters:
Rebecca Haines-Saah, PhD | Study co-lead, co-presenter, University of Calgary
Rebecca Haines-Saah is a public health sociologist (PhD), with over twenty years’ experience as a youth substance use researcher. She is widely recognized for expertise in youth cannabis research. She co-leads TRACE (Teens Report on Adolescent Cannabis Experiences), a qualitative youth research program that originated in British Columbia in 2006. Rebecca has a longstanding interest in using participatory and arts-based methodologies in her research with youth and families, drawing from her first career as an actor on the popular Canadian television series, Degrassi Junior High. She works as an associate professor at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.
Mike Land, PhD | Study co-lead, co-presenter, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary
Mike Land received his PhD from University of Calgary in 2022 and is involved in scholarly research in the fields of Digital Storytelling, Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, Health Humanities, and Hermeneutic Research. Since 2011, Mike has worked with over 800 patients, family members and health care providers, from across all injury and illness groups, to help them create short three min Digital Stories of their experiences. Mike has extensive experience facilitating groups for young adults; since his own cancer diagnosis at the age of 25, he has been heavily involved in the creation and improvement of programs for young adult cancer survivors and their supporters in Canada and around North America.
Presented by the Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee on November 5, 2025.