HEP 452 Module 4 Assignment What is Photovoice?

Please review the following weblink (The Community Toolbox, Photovoice), the write your answers directly below each question using black font. http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/photovoice/main

1. What is photovoice? (about 100 words, 2 points)

A photovoice is a process that uses visual representation, usually through video or images by individuals with limited power resulting from language barrier, poverty, ethnicity, class or gender; used to capture the participant’s issues of concern including experiences and living environment and sharing them with others with an aim of stimulating social change.

2. What are the five key concepts Wang has identified as underlying photovoice? (list and describe these, 2 points)

The five key concepts of a photovoice include:

i. Images teach

ii. Pictures can influence policy

iii. Community members ought to participate in creating and defining the images that shape healthful public policy

iv. The process requires that from the outset planners bring policy makers and other influential people to the table to serve as an audience

v. Photovoice emphasizes individual and community action

3. What are the three main goals of photovoice? (list and describe, 1 points)

i. To give voice to those without power, hence enabling them to record and reflect on their living conditions and experiences with an aim of stimulating social change

ii. To encourage critical consciousness by choosing, discussing, and reflecting on the taken images and videos, providing the participants with a clear understanding of their circumstances including economic, political, psychological and social factors as well as the forces that shape them.

iii. To bring change in the community by influencing policy makers hence improving the living conditions and enhancing lives

4. Why should we use photovoice? (list and describe, 4 points)

i. Using photovoice has immediate rewards as it has instant results and thus encourages participants to continue

ii. Using photovoice is a fun and creative process as it is both an art and a fulfilling experience encouraging participants to cultivate talents they didn’t know existed

iii. Photovoice can change individuals’ perception of the social and physical environment as it provides a different way of seeing the images and scenes

iv. Photography is easy to learn and accessible to everyone who can capture images including children, and thus, it does not require artistic excellence to tell a story

v. Using photovoice can be an effective advocacy as images and videos speaks more than words – a picture is worth a thousand words

vi. Images and videos are easily understood regardless of language, gender, and cultural barriers

vii. Photovoice provides undeniable evidence of the actual conditions to policy makers and thus cannot be assumed to have been exaggerated

viii. Images and videos can be used to hold policy makers liable and accountable as they create a picture of existing conditions at a particular time

ix. They provide a means of empowerment without requiring the people to stand up and speak in public

5. Who should use photovoice? (state the general characteristics in one sentence, then list and describe 6 examples, 4 points)

i. Children and youth in difficult circumstances such as orphans and the homeless to report cases of child labor

ii. Homeless adults and families

iii. Individuals with physical and mental disabilities

iv. Individuals with chronic medical conditions such as tuberculosis, heart disease and diabetes

v. Members of racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious or cultural minorities

vi. Individuals whose way of life is threatened

vii. Individuals who are discriminated against due to class, caste, poverty or way of life

viii. The rural poor in developing and developed countries

6. When should we use photovoice? (list and describe, 4 points)

i. Photovoice can be used when participants wants to change opinions about themselves and the environment

ii. When a group’s situation needs to be publicized

iii. When a problem needs to be publicized

iv. When change is necessary and photovoice can be used to help inform policy makers

v. When a community assessment is required or in progress

vi. When there is need to document the process of gathering of data for evaluation of an intervention

vii. When policy makers need to be held accountable

viii. When it is required to document a site, event, or a way of life that is threatened or about to disappear

7. How do we use photovoice? (list and describe, 3 points)

i. Photovoice should be a participatory, collaborative process from the start of a project

ii. Participants and staff require training depending on the population they come from as some might have never used a camera before

iii. Participants need support by ensuring their safety and creating supportive environment which they can learn new skills and gain confidence in their abilities to voice their ideas

iv. The project should result in some actions such as change of policy in a positive way

References

The Community ToolBox. Section 20. Implementing Photovoice in Your Community. Retrieved from: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/photovoice/main