Photovoice as a Method for Revealing Community Perceptions of the Built and Social Environment

Abstract

Over the last number of years there has been growing interest in the use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) for preventing and controlling complex public health problems. Photovoice is one of several qualitative methods utilized in CBPR, as it is a participatory method that has community participants use photography, and stories about their photographs, to identify and represent issues of importance to them. Over the past several years photovoice methodology has been frequently used to explore community health and social issues. One emerging opportunity for the utilization of photovoice methodology is research on community built and social environments, particularly when looking at the context of the neighbourhood. What is missing from the current body of photovoice literature is a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of photovoice as a method for health promotion research (which traditionally emphasizes capacity-building, community-based approaches) and as a method for revealing residents’ perceptions of community as a source of health opportunities or barriers. This paper will begin to address this gap by discussing the successes and challenges of using the photovoice methodology in a recent CBPR project to explore community perceptions of the built and social environment (with the ultimate goal of informing community-based chronic disease prevention initiatives). The paper concludes with methodological recommendations and directions for future research.

Perceptions à l’égard de l’environnement et comportements en matière de santé : étude fondée sur le cadre ANGELO (grille d’analyse des environnements liés à l’obésité)

“…Dans le cadre de ce projet, cette étape cruciale a eu lieu pendant l'entrevue de suivi, lorsque les participants ont analysé leurs photographies, donnant une signification à chaque image et expliquant cette signification à l'enquêteur 24 . Le guide d'entrevue a été utilisé, si nécessaire, pour entamer la conversation, mais l'objectif principal consistait à saisir les grandes idées associées à chaque photographie et à découvrir la signification de l'image pour le participant plutôt que d'amener ce dernier à se livrer des observations précises.…”

“…la bibliothèque locale) 24 . Avec ces entrevues de suivi approfondies, les participants ont vraiment pu partager leur expérience, au-delà de leurs photographies.…”

Imagens e concepções de adolescentes moradores de zonas rurais sobre saúde

“…Pesquisa participativa baseada na comunidade que utilizou o método fotovoz para coleta dos dados 5,6,7 . A pesquisa participativa baseada na comunidade integra abordagem qualitativa, pesquisa-ação e pesquisa participante no cenário cultural de vida dos informantes 8 .…”

“…A pesquisa participativa baseada na comunidade integra abordagem qualitativa, pesquisa-ação e pesquisa participante no cenário cultural de vida dos informantes 8 . O fotovoz é um recurso metodológico por meio do qual as pessoas utilizam câmeras fotográficas para documentar suas realidades de vida e saúde 5,6,7 .…”

Rural youth and emotional geographies: how photovoice and words-alone methods tell different stories of place

“…In other cases, participants asked a mother or a friend to take their photograph. This limitation is tempered by our analytic approach whereby we interrogate the social and cultural processes of constructing the photographs, in addition to realist interpretations of the observable content of the photographs (see Nykiforuk et al 2011 for a discussion of the limitations of photovoice methods in the realist tradition).…”