PM use practices showed several complementary functions that PM fulfill in a context of polydrug use. The soothing and stimulating effects of PM reinforce the patterns of drug use among participants, posing various risks including overdose, HIV/HCV transmission, PM dependence and accidents. The results highlight the need for clinicians to assess clients' substance use patterns when prescribing PM and to question PWUC about PM use. The findings also underline certain unmet service needs in relation to overdose, HIV/HCV and mental health prevention/treatment among cocaine users.

Understanding and improving how diverse people work together is a core concern of applied social sciences. This article reports ethnographic observations on a participatory design project in which researchers and adults on the autism spectrum worked together on the design of a new technology—biomusic. Biomusic uses a smartphone application and a wearable sensor to measure physiological signals and translate them into auditory output. Ethnographers were involved in this project, both to facilitate eliciting perspectives of different stakeholders and to observe, record, and reflect on the process. This paper discusses the relationship between ethnography and participatory design in two ways. First, it describes the contribution of ethnography to achieving the goals of participatory design. Second, it draws on ethnographic observations to highlight different strategies people with and without autism used to work together, including strategies put forth by the researchers, strategies already in place in the community, and strategies emerging from the intersection of both. These strategies created a space that was more accessible to many different types of people. Documenting the way that this group worked together challenged several stereotypes about autism and highlighted the role of autistic collaborators as agents.

Individuals with dementia and their carers often experience a rupture of relationships that co-occurs with declining functional and cognitive abilities, leading to their increased social exclusion in both intimate relationships and community settings. While initiatives have been developed to support meaningful interaction and participation in society, they have broadly ignored the significance of how cultural factors influence experiences of inclusion/exclusion of these individuals. An ethnographic study was conducted by an interdisciplinary research team between April 2018 and January 2019 to explore the intersections of culture and social inclusion/exclusion in a culturally diverse group of persons with dementia, caregivers and staff members of a non-profit organization located in a multicultural neighborhood of a bilingual Canadian city. The participants’ culture was inextricably linked to their experiences in three overarching themes of social inclusion/exclusion: transformation of the person with dementia and the caregiver; participation in social networks and meaningful relations; and styles of care provision in health and social services. Cultural mandates that prescribe practices of intergenerational care shape the way certain caregivers perceive their role and mitigated experiences of exclusion. Culturally specific notions and views associated with dementia prevalent in certain communities increased experiences of inclusion or exclusion. Engagement with the cultural elements of individuals with dementia was shown to be an effective and underexplored tool for fostering inclusion. The results of this study highlight the value of the ethnographic methods for incorporating the perspective of persons with dementia in research.

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