Shifting the gaze of the physician from the body to the body in a place: A qualitative analysis of a community-based photovoice approach to teaching place-health concepts to medical students

Abstract

Medical practitioners, trained to isolate health within and upon the body of the individual, are now challenged to negotiate research and population health theories that link health status to geographic location as evidence suggests a connection between place and health. This paper builds an integrated place-health model and structural competency analytical framework with nine domains and four levels of proficiency that is utilized to assess a communitybased photovoice project's ability to shift the practice of medicine by medical students from the surface of the body to the body within a place. Analysis of the medical student's photovoice data demonstrated that the students achieved structural competency level 1 proficiency and came to understand how health might be connected to place represented by six of the nine domains of the structural competency framework. Results suggest that medical student's engagement with place-health systemic, institutional and structural forces deepens when they co-create narratives of their lived experiences in a place with patients as community members during a community-based photovoice project. Given the importance of place-health theories to explain population health outcomes, a place-health model and structural competency analytical framework utilized during a community-based photovoice project could help medical students merge the image of patients as singular bodies into bodies set within a context. OPEN ACCESSCitation: Andress L, Purtill MP (2020) Shifting the gaze of the physician from the body to the body in a place: A qualitative analysis of a communitybased photovoice approach to teaching placehealth concepts to medical students. PLoS ONE 15 (2): e0228640. https://doi.org/10.

Examining the relationship between physical activity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic across five U.S. States

“…This mixed-methods study investigated the directionality of this relationship as well as how and why changes have occurred. Researchers have increasingly called for intersectional approaches to public health research and practice, recognizing that health is shaped by a convergence of factors, including histories of oppression, experiences of discrimination, poverty, and social location ( Tipirneni, 2021 , Andress et al, 2020 , Bowleg, 2020 , Cook et al, 2014 , Meyer et al, 2014 ). Given this context, the relationship between PA and MH should be examined for intersections between location, time, access, and identities ( Tipirneni, 2021 ).…”

The Curated Food System: A Limiting Aspirational Vision of What Constitutes “Good” Food

“…The narrative in this discourse argues against the idea that the health problems of low-wealth groups are caused by or solely attributable to poor eating behavior, lack of nutritional knowledge, or irresponsible behavior [ 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Narratives that push back against the individual responsibility trope include structuralist and social determinants of health theories that attribute poverty and poor health to forces outside the individual including transportation, poverty, wages, the regional economy, and employment [ 36 , 38 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ].…”

Scaling up of Eco-Bio-Social Strategy to Control Aedes aegypti in Highly Vulnerable Areas in Fortaleza, Brazil: A Cluster, Non-Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol

“…The following activities were developed to establish a participatory surveillance routine in school environments: psychodrama-based training for students to act in vector control [39,40]; Junior Brigade (a group of schoolchildren trained to eliminate potential Aedes breeding sites in their schools, in partnership with EDCAs, social mobilizers, and employees of educational institutions) [41]; Aedes hunters (schoolchildren trained to eliminate potential Aedes breeding grounds around the homes, in partnership with family members and EDCAs; associated with educational activities carried out in the school environment such as mosquito cycle exhibition; case study [42]; focus group [43]; Photovoice [44] and photo exhibition.…”