Background: Mixed methods research studies continue to pervade the field of health care, where pragmatism as a research paradigm and patient‐oriented research (POR) as an engagement strategy are combined to strengthen the process and outcomes of the research. Pragmatists use the most appropriate research methods to address issues at hand, where complex social problems need multipronged approaches. As an emerging healthcare research strategy, POR actively engages individuals with lived experience across all stages of the research process. While POR continues to garner attention within mixed‐methods research designs, there is a paucity of literature that considers POR in relation to pragmatism.Objective: As POR grows in popularity within the field of health care, there is a need to explore the theoretical and epistemological alignment with pragmatism and the implications to research.Methods: To address this need, we provide a critical review of the literature to examine the synergies between POR and pragmatism, and argue for the adoption of pragmatism as a paradigm for conducting POR.Main Results: This article begins with a discussion of the philosophical underpinnings informing the pragmatic paradigm. It then identifies key alignments between POR and pragmatism across three intersecting concepts: democratic values, collaborative approaches to problem‐solving and the pursuit of social justice.Discussion and Conclusions: Reflecting on our experiences engaging with patient partners in a mixed‐methods POR study titled READY2Exit, we illustrate the relevance of pragmatism to POR by applying these concepts to practice. Implications and considerations for conducting POR within the pragmatic paradigm are also described.Patient or Public Contribution: This paper provides a critical review of the literature and did not directly involve patients or the public. The authors reflected on their experiences collaborating with five young adult patient partners in the READY2Exit study (case exemplar described in this article) to demonstrate the relevance of the pragmatic paradigm to POR. We acknowledge and thank the young adult patient partners for their contributions to the research, for encouraging us to think critically about patient engagement in research, and for sharing their experiences.

This article involves an exploration into the ongoing claim that photovoice is a participatory action research (PAR) method. The article begins with a description of PAR and the theories that inform this methodology, followed by a brief history of photographic methods in research and the emergence of photovoice. The following section is an exploration of the goals and theories underlying photovoice, noting divergences from PAR in the following areas: 1) the positionality of the researcher, 2) decision-making power, and 3) the length of time dedicated to the overall process. The article concludes with further suggestions and considerations associated with photovoice and its implications to social work practice.

Advocacy is a core part of social work practice. While social media platforms have grown in popularity in online campaigns, there is little evidence of how social workers can use social media when working with community groups. In this article, we provide an exemplar of an innovative advocacy practice with social media involving community members who created participatory videos as part of a research study, and subsequently integrated the videos into a larger human rights advocacy campaign. The case highlights three forms of social media engagement: platform integration, call-to-action, and blending offline and online advocacy efforts in real time. Included in this article is also a YouTube link to one of the participatory videos. We begin by considering the benefits and concerns of social media in social work education, followed by the implications in the field, with particular attention paid to advocacy. In the second section, we present the case study to demonstrate the application of social media platforms and conclude with practical considerations for social workers adopting social media when working alongside communities in social justice initiatives.

This article describes an adapted photovoice study that explored the facilitators and barriers to accessing paratransit services among people with disabilities. This 18-month study involved adults with disabilities developing photovoice stories about their paratransit experiences in Eastern Canada. The photovoice stories represent an in-depth examination of the familial, social, geographical, and environmental factors and their complex association with paratransit services. Distributing the photovoice stories through social media also served as a practical application of health promotion as the process allowed for a broader audience reach to bear witness to the experiences of participants from the disability community. Discussion includes recommendations for developing and sustaining responsive paratransit services with the assertion that persons with disabilities are at the forefront in making informed changes and improvements in ensuring transportation is accessible for everyone.

Using the new conceptual framework of participatory visual media as method, advocacy and voice (MAV), the author explores an action research study using an exemplar in which advocates from the disability community created and distributed a series of videos about love and sexuality as a critical human rights issue in the disability community. The author proposes that conceptualizing these three areas as overlapping, rather than being mutually exclusive, offers an integrated way of understanding collaborative media practices that are community-based and action-oriented. Methodological, practical and ethical considerations are also addressed regarding collaborative-based research that involves public distribution.

This article conceptualizes how place-based analysis can generate innovative understandings of sex work and spatial justice, including ways in which stigma, well-being, and marginality are embodied in sex work places. Focusing on three interconnected dimensions of place—geographic location, material environment, and sociopower structures—this article examines the unexplored realm of place and sex work. Beginning with an analysis of existing sex work literature and knowledge relating to dimensions of place, we explicate the role of feminist ideologies, juridical contexts, and the built environment as the conceptual and analytic groundwork for a place-based understanding of sex work. Architectural spatial methods then generate a place-based analysis of two case study exemplars: the Residence in Western Canada and the Strichtplatz in Zurich, Switzerland. We conclude by considering avenues to incorporate place theory into sex work research and the social work discipline, ultimately advocating for research, policy, and practice that concomitantly address sex workers’ social and spatial oppression.