Using PhotoVoice to Understand Health Determinants of Formerly Homeless Individuals Living in Permanent Housing in Detroit

Abstract

An individual is considered chronically homeless if she or he is disabled and was homeless for at least a year or experienced four periods of homelessness in 3 years (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2007). On a single night in 2017, there were 86,962 chronically homeless individuals in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2017). Housing First is an evidence-based approach to addressing chronic homelessness that provides permanent, low-barrier housing. Housing First programs may be scattered site programs where apartments are scattered among available rental properties or single-site (sometimes called congregate) programs where all units in one building are reserved for Housing First program residents (Somers et al., 2017). Residents are not required to participate in any particular therapy or program or maintain sobriety to maintain housing. Residents pay 30% of their income to rent (Tsemberis, Moran, Shinn, Asmussen, & Shern, 2003). Previous literature on the health of tenants of Housing First programs has primarily focused on mental health, substance use, and health care utilization (Larimer et al., 2009; Srebnik,

“Having a Baby Can Wait”: Experiences of a Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion Program in the Context of Homelessness among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander Youth Captured Through PhotoVoice

“…, n.d.). A continued focus on determinants of health and well-being is necessary once stable housing is secured, and it has been explored in other PhotoVoice studies (Cheezum et al, 2019).…”

“…Currently, Housing First models are being tested with a variety of populations, including families involved with the child welfare system to explore whether or not Housing First approaches can help prevent child abuse and neglect (Can "Housing Firs," Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect?, n.d.). A continued focus on determinants of health and well-being is necessary once stable housing is secured, and it has been explored in other PhotoVoice studies (Cheezum et al, 2019).…”

“It's not the end of the story:” Understanding the continued recovery from homelessness using Photovoice and content analysis

“…Not only is it important to understand the long-term recovery from homelessness, it is also important to understand the research approaches and methodologies best suited to investigate this process. Researchers working with individuals who have experienced homelessness have recognized the value of participatory approaches and have used them to create research environments where the voices of marginalized individuals are centered in the research process (e.g., Cheezum et al, 2019;Washington & Moxley, 2008). By including community members in all stages of the research process as co-researchers, community-based participatory research (CBPR) aims to redistribute the power between the researchers and the "researched" (Farquhar et al, 2014;Israel et al, 2013;Stoeker, 2009).…”

“…Photovoice (PV) is a participatory methodology that has proved valuable in research with people who have experienced trauma, extreme poverty, social exclusion, and homelessness (Cheezum et al, 2019;Pruitt et al, 2018). As a method in which community members use photography to (a) identify their personal and community strengths and concerns; (b) engage in critical dialog about them; and (c) communicate these issues to policymakers, PV centers the voices of individuals traditionally left out of the research process (Wang, 1999).…”

‘It’s common sense that an individual must eat’: Advocating for food justice with people with psychiatric disabilities through photovoice

“…29 Photovoice methodology provides cameras to participants to identify community assets and needs, followed by critical dialogue about the meaning of these photographs in the participants' lives. Photovoice has been applied with populations experiencing SMI, [30][31][32] homelessness 33 and people experiencing food insecurity. 21,[34][35][36] The final goal of Photovoice is social action and political change.…”