Imagining Futures Amidst the Uncertainty of Living: A Critical Participatory Action Research Project with Adolescents and Young Adults with Lived Experiences with Cancer

In this paper we share key insights from an 18-month participatory research project exploring the lived experiences and realities of cancer among racialized adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Written collaboratively with adolescent and young adult co-thinkers, we discuss the creative methodologies used in the study, critical and imaginative frameworks within Indigenous, Black and queer of colour theorizing, and the value of an interdisciplinary approach for understanding the cancer care experiences of racialized adolescents and young adults. The analysis explores five core research themes, which highlight what the project offered to the adolescents and young adults who participated: a place to meaningfully participate, to be understood in their complexity, to create and be creative, to be in community, and to imagine their desired futures. We argue for a meaningful and inclusive engagement of AYAs in cancer care systems and research, urging healthcare practitioners and researchers to recognize the complexities of AYAs' lives and experiences. Ultimately, we advocate for transformative changes in cancer care research and practice, with the goal of supporting AYAs as active agents in their own care and futures.