Tethered flight : weathering agency and constraint in mpox vaccination among underrepresented gay, bisexual, trans, and other men who have sex with men through interpretive description
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Nursing, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Pacis, Jefferson
issued: 2025-10-08T08:03:13Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Master of Science in Nursing - MSN
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis investigates barriers and facilitators to preventative mpox vaccination among underrepresented gay, bisexual, transgender people, and other men who have sex with men in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of a larger inter-provincial mixed-methods study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Using Interpretive Description and Reflexive Thematic Analysis, this qualitative strand foregrounds the lived experiences of participants (n=14) who are racialised, transgender, sex working, or living with HIV. Findings show that vaccine engagement was shaped by the interplay of stigma and trust, where stigma eroded confidence in health systems, yet affirming care, trust, and resilience enabled uptake. Community networks and grassroots-oriented outreach functioned as stabilising forces that countered inequitable conditions. However, mpox-related communications inadvertently reinforced stigma and exclusion. Despite these barriers, participants reframed vaccination as a form of solidarity, turning vulnerability into strength through collective action and peer support. The subsequent application of the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework highlighted multi-level drivers, manifestations, and outcomes of stigma, while the heuristic use of the kite metaphor offered ways of visualising the complex dynamics of agency and constraint in public health engagement across socio-ecological levels. This study advances health equity scholarship by amplifying underrepresented perspectives and demonstrating that vaccine uptake reflects both systemic inequities and community strength. It calls for stigma-sensitive communication, affirming care, and sustained investment in community-led initiatives as structural imperatives for public health.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/92508
note: TETHERED FLIGHT: WEATHERING AGENCY AND CONSTRAINT IN MPOX VACCINATION AMONG UNDERREPRESENTED GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN THROUGH INTERPRETIVE DESCRIPTION by Jefferson Pacis BScN, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2020 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NURSING in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2025 © Jefferson Pacis, 2025ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: TETHERED FLIGHT: WEATHERING AGENCY AND CONSTRAINT IN MPOX VACCINATION AMONG UNDERREPRESENTED GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN THROUGH INTERPRETIVE DESCRIPTION submitted by Jefferson Pacis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing in Nursing Examining Committee: Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, School of Nursing, UBC Vancouver Supervisor Dr. Devon Greyson, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Vancouver Co-supervisor Dr. Vicky Bungay, School of Nursing, UBC Vancouver Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract This thesis investigates barriers and facilitators to preventative mpox vaccination among underrepresented gay, bisexual, transgender people, and other men who have sex with men in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of a larger inter-provincial mixed-methods study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Using Interpretive Description and Reflexive Thematic Analysis, this qualitative strand foregrounds the lived experiences of participants (n=14) who are racialised, transgender, sex working, or living with HIV. Findings show that vaccine engagement was shaped by the interplay of stigma and trust, where stigma eroded confidence in health systems, yet affirming care, trust, and resilience enabled uptake. Community networks and…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0450328
language: eng
degree discipline: Nursing
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Saewyc, Elizabeth Marie
contributor: Greyson, Devon
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/92508