Incorporating Photovoice Into a Community-Based Intervention With Latinx Families

Abstract

Photovoice is a qualitative community-based participatory research (CBPR) method used by researchers and communities to inform policy and advocate for community change. Photovoice was piloted within an established community-based intervention, Your Family, Your Neighborhood (YFYN), within a predominantly Latinx community. YFYN is a dual-generation, evidence-based, manualized curriculum supporting and strengthening bonds between parents and their children while fostering neighborhood social cohesion among families living in low-income communities. The photovoice project was conducted with five families (n=20 participants) in English and Spanish. Participants guided the photovoice process to uncover complex community issues from their direct perspectives to accurately capture the challenges and strengths they encounter in their community. Community challenges identified by participants included the dumping of trash in their neighborhood, inadequate space for their children to play, and heavy traffic that impedes their ability to walk their children to school safely. Participants identified three main community strengths: the local park, the Boys & Girls Club, and personal connections with other YFYN family participants. When participants guide the photovoice process, it helps stakeholders understand and uncover complex issues from community members’ direct perspectives to capture the meaning of the issues accurately. Production of knowledge from the community rooted in their lived experience can help reshape the narrative of Latinx families living in low-income communities and allows for social workers to more adequately respond to their specific needs.

The acceptability of photovoice as a method for incorporating resilience-enhancing factors into pediatric pain research

“…In future research, posting recruitment information in a wider range of community and healthcare settings may help to increase the diversity of potential participants. In addition, being open to conducting group meetings online ensures that getting to a different location is not a barrier, and others [37] have recommended budgeting for cameras to ensure that owning a phone or camera is not a barrier to participation.…”