Nothing about us, without us. Reflections on the engagement of people with lived and living experience in the “Engage with Harm Reduction Study”
Jun 28, 2022
12:00PM to 1:00PM
Date/Time
Date(s) - 28/06/2022
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
This event has already taken place. Please visit our YouTube channel to watch the recording.
Date: Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Live Webinar: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Reflecting Together: 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. (optional to attend following live webinar; see details further below)
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/ZxcbSrhjsqQyc8GQ9
All are welcome to attend this event. The virtual event link will be provided upon registration.
Join our Collaborative Conversations with Andre Ceranto, Peer Program Manager at Casey House, Dean Valentine, board member at Casey House and a Canadian Force’s veteran and Soo Chan Carusone, Manager, Strategic Initiatives at the McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging and past Director of Research at Casey House.
By joining this conversation between research partners, this webinar will help achieve the following objectives:
- Learn how a community-based research team used a multi-layered approach in engaging and empowering people with lived and living experience of HIV and drug use
- Explore both challenges and successes from a community-based harm reduction study
- Discover and consider how structures (including funding bodies), teams, and individuals can all contribute to achieving community-relevant research built from equal partnerships
Reflecting Together will take place immediately following this live webinar at 1:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for community members to come together and share their thoughts on the topics discussed during this event. We hope you will be able to join as we continue the conversation and take our learnings into action.
Speaker Bios
Andre Ceranto
Andre is the Peer Program Manager at Casey House. He graduated from the Community Worker Program at George Brown College in 2008. First generation immigrant from Brazil and identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities, Andre is an advocate for the inclusion of the voices of people living with HIV/AIDS in matters that directly or indirectly affect them, by meaningfully engaging them to participate and contribute.
In the past few years, Andre’s work has focused on engaging peers in capacity building and knowledge development and translation opportunities, including his work with the podcast, Positively Speaking. Andre utilizes his lived experience with HIV/AIDS (and beyond) to support others in the community who are working to improve their health and wellbeing by working to decrease isolation and deal with other negative impacts of HIV/ AIDS in peoples’ lives.
Andre strongly supports community-based research initiatives and believes research should be an empowering experience for those participating.
Dean Valentine
Dean Valentine is a board member of Casey House and a Canadian Force’s veteran with over 25 years of service to the logistics branch. A diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in 2008 presented complications with both physical and mental health, which led to a compulsory release from the Canadian Forces; subsequently, leading to a period of problematic substance use.
Both challenges and successes with his own recovery and healthcare navigation has given Dean a keen interest in community engagement and advocating for peers with lived and living experience around mental health and addiction concerns. Dean is currently active as a Community Advisor to both provincial and community healthcare initiatives.
Dr. Soo Chan Carusone
Before joining the McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging as the Manager, Strategic Initiatives Soo was the Director of Research at Casey House. A traditionally trained mixed methods health researcher, she was fortunate enough to expand her training, understanding, and capacity to contribute to health research with a focus on equity and structural barriers through her partnerships and collaborations in the HIV and harm reduction community. She is passionate about creative ways of partnering in research and advocating for structural changes to support engagement of people with relevant and diverse lived and living experience in all stages of research.
About Casey House
Casey House is a speciality hospital in Toronto providing ground-breaking care to people living with and at risk of HIV. They offer a growing mix of inpatient, outpatient and community-based services that meet clients where they are in their individual journeys of health and wellness.
Casey House is Canada’s first and only hospital for people living with and at risk of HIV, and has a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to health and well-being. Building on a legacy of advocacy and social justice, Casey House actively dismantles barriers to care and safe living and provides a community and sense of belonging that connects people to care. The humanity of each client is at the heart of everything they do.