Archipelago: A group of islands. Often used theoretically or metaphorically to convey ideas of migration, diaspora, and cultural exchange; for Tamara Oyola-Santiago, the diversity of the Puerto Rican archipelago has been homogenized through US imperialism. Archipelagos often blur cultural and state boundaries; whereas islands are conceived as distinct and bordered entities like nations, archipelagos blend local, regional, and national contexts into new conceptions of culture and home (see also: Matria).
Contamination: A process that makes a pure substance impure by adulterating its original makeup. Due to reaction with the outside substance, the original substance becomes poisonous. Matthew Bonn advocates for a safe and regulated drug supply to counter the lethal harms of drug contamination. Contamination may also be environmental; see Murphy (SDUK02), Simmons (SDUK05) or Wool (SDUK09) for perspectives on the toxic legacies of chemical contamination.
A doula is a person who supports an individual during a time of life transition. Doulas are trained non-medical professionals who bring lived experience to their work in supporting different life transitions: birth doulas provide care through pregnancy; intimacy doulas navigate sexual health and trauma; and death doulas support end-of-life care. What Would an HIV Doula Do? collective considers how the profession can support people with HIV and their kin.
Harm reduction aims to reduce the negative consequences of substance use and offers an alternative to abstinence-only intervention. Rooted in activism by people who use drugs, many harm reductionists advocate for safe drug supply and decriminalization (see Bonn). An expanded understanding of harm reduction as a movement encompasses notions of collective healing, unity across geographies, and resistance to all forms of systemic oppression (Oyola-Santiago; Ansloos and Gardner).
Hevrutah: The traditional Jewish practice of studying the Torah with a partner or group. Rooted in the Hebrew word for “friend” (haver), hevrutah describes the collective and peer-guided approach to learning and interpreting biblical texts. With a hevrutah, the act of reciting is animated by critical thinking and intergenerational exchange. See Brothers Sick whose practice is informed by collaborative Torah exegesis to underscore contemporary experiences of illness and disability.
Lamentation is the outward expression of grief, sorrow, or mourning. In referencing itkuvirsi, the Karelian (present-day Finland, Sweden, and Russia) folk tradition of singing and crying with words, Mourning School underscores that grief work is involved in all forms of transition, not only death. Many ancient and contemporary acts of lamentation across different cultures are anchored by language and the voice.
Longing: Desire, loss, craving, nostalgia, wistfulness. Often framed in the present while reflecting on the past, longing denotes the sustained desire for an absent person, place, thing, or feeling. Craig Jennex describes longing for queer collectivity forged through nightlife; in his account, longing is both temporal and geographic, provoked by artworks that simulate missing out. Longing might also be brought on by grief, where a loss causes the sufferer to long for a previous state (see Crosbie; “A Good Death”; Mourning School).
A neologism for the term “homeland,” matria posits nationhood in relation to matriarchal belonging. Entrenched in feminist thought as well as literary, poetic, and anthropological traditions, the Spanish word “matria” maps out interdependent worlds grounded in practices of mutual aid, radical love, and care for Mother Earth. For Tamara Oyola-Santiago, experiences of migration and diaspora are met with a sense of matria, a feeling that binds her with other boricua (Puerto Rican people) across time and distance.
Medication: Pharmaceutical drugs used for treatment of illness or disease. Artworks by Brothers Sick and Shan Kelley position pharmaceutical medications as vital tools for living with chronic illness, alongside networks of care and support. Matthew Bonn calls attention to the sociopolitical factors that distinguish between licit medications and illicit drugs; he cites the existing framework for regulation of medications as a basis for decriminalizing illicit drugs (see also: stigma).
An obituary is a written text, usually in a newspaper or online, that commemorates a deceased person. It might include their photo, name, age, surviving family members, and fond memories. With a long history dating to the earliest written records, and vastly expanded with developments in printing, obituaries have become an important source of public record-keeping. Writing an obituary can be an opportunity for the living to express their grief (see Mourning School; “A Good Death”).
Ritual is a sequence of actions, words, and objects determined and practiced by an individual or community. Commonly used interchangeably with “habit” and “routine,” ritual differs as it implies meaningful intention. It also departs from the formality of ceremony and can occur in everyday circumstances. Rituals are employed for a myriad of reasons: fulfilling rites as part of religious or cultural traditions; processing grief and restoring agency (see Brothers Sick; Mourning School); managing or honouring relationships (agbayani, SDUK07); healing and reflection (Kelley).
Safe Supply refers broadly to the legal and policy measures needed to combat the ongoing overdose crisis. Driven largely by the proliferation of fentanyl in the drug supply—which is the leading cause of fatal overdoses—drug poisoning has risen dramatically in Canada since 2016 (Bonn). Measures for transitioning to a safe supply include many of the current safeguards on legal products such as alcohol or cigarettes, such as decriminalization and regulation; additional measures include the expansion of drug testing kits, and the creation of buyers’ clubs or cooperatives.
Social Determinants of Health (SDH) is a leading global framework that considers the direct effects of an individual’s broader social environment on their health. Responding to the common understandings of SDH, contributors critically examine its shortcomings, citing that it fails to fully acknowledge systemic inequities. Social factors are often beyond a person’s control (“Nowhere to Isolate”) and are made invisible or exacerbated by forms of structural oppression (including police violence and legislative liability protection; Cadotte). SDH has also been criticized for overlooking health as a relational process.
Stigma is a discriminatory idea that perpetuates false notions about a marginalized person or group. Stigma contributes to further ostracizing its targets from society, marking them as “other.” Kimone Rodney describes stigma as a major barrier for unhoused people due to the judgement they experience in accessing housing and healthcare; Matthew Bonn asserts it’s a major cause of policy inaction toward the overdose crisis; and Shanouda, viva davis halifax and Yoshida discuss stigmatization as a reason for the marginalization of people with disabilities.
Trauma-informed care: A patient-centred approach that facilitates healing through understanding the widespread impacts of trauma. Healthcare and social service providers who implement trauma-informed care are trained to discern the signs and symptoms of trauma, and apply that knowledge in promoting safe spaces for treatment, patient empowerment, and staff wellness. Amid health and housing crises that perpetuate inequalities in access to services, medical practitioners are fostering systems of trauma-informed care that break down barriers for unhoused and marginalized individuals (see “Nowhere to Isolate”; Cadotte).
From the Latin vigilia meaning “wakefulness,” vigil is the act of staying awake, often as part of a ritual or devotional practice. To keep vigil typically refers to being present with a person who is critically ill or dying. It is also a way to prepare for and process the end-of-life of a loved one (see “A Good Death”; ritual) and a method for public mourning, commemoration, or protest.