Envisioning Eye Care From a Rural Perspective: A Photovoice Project From India

Abstract

Background To understand barriers and promoters for accessing eye care by rural communities, we used a modified approach to Photovoice, a community-based participatory action research approach Methods Community members took photographs and wrote or spoke stories based upon a series of questions intended to facilitate deeper thinking. Fifteen rural paramedical team members who were affiliated with the rural network of L V Prasad Eye Institute, and 60 people from four villages reported barriers and promoters for eye care access for 20 villages Results Important barriers for accessing eye care included the following: no caretaker at home for grandchildren except for the grandparent(s), alcoholism, uncontrolled blood pressure, inadequate diabetes management, lack of escort for blind people and elders, affordability, and inadequate clinic staffing during summer season when farming villagers were available. Important promoters for seeking eye care included having a neighbor who had a good surgical outcome in one eye which resulted in the ability to resume work. The Photovoice project offered specific suggestions to hospital management for improving eye care access, including providing evening transportation, providing additional surgical staffing during busy summer season, and the creation of tool spectacle repair kits to be kept at the primary vision centers Conclusions This Photovoice project facilitated a deeper understanding of the important barriers and promoters for accessing eye care by villagers, and by the rural eye care team, offering specific suggestions to hospital management for improving eye care access and to communicate without any inhibiting factors like fear of hierarchy within the hospital administration.

A participatory practice study for the improvement of sub-regional health vulnerabilities: a qualitative study

“…Recently, photovoice has been employed in various ways in health and medical research [31]. Indeed, research on various medical topics such as a study on developing a participatory community strategy for persons with disabilities [13], a participatory study on the improvement of children's eating habits in an obesity prevention program [32], a study identifying health-related needs for women in a sub-region in Kenya [33], and a study on the management of eye health in a sub-regional perspective in India utilized photovoice [34]. In addition, in Turkey, a study has been conducted to address online education through online photovoice [35] and another study to address mental health issues during the pandemic through online photovoice [36].…”