Photovoice across borders: Applying the photovoice method in US and Brazilian settings

The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate Photovoice as a method without borders. The Photovoice method is not solely based in language and the visual elements of the technique are especially appealing to oral storytelling cultures, to those for whom English is not their first language, and to adolescents who developmentally are less inclined to engage in language-based data gathering methods. Photovoice empowers individuals and communities to tell their story as they perceive it using photography enhanced with dialogue. Photovoice engages participants in a manner that results in self-empowerment as their voice is brought to the forefront through their photographs, leading to actionable individual, community and social change. Adolescents may struggle with participating in postpositivist research which predominantly employs data collection strategies that inherently reinforce the power and voice of the researcher such as one-to-one interviews or written surveys. In contrast, adolescents embrace photovoice research, a mutually beneficial and meaningful health promotion strategy.

In this presentation, we highlight the research successes and social impact of four distinct photovoice studies in the U.S. and in Brazil including: immigrant Latino adolescents in Minnesota, homeless street adolescents in Brazil, urban youth from Baltimore, and African American youth from faith-based settings.. Lessons learned will be offered from the domestic and international settings including: study design, ethical considerations, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination strategies. Participants will gain insights that will provide a foundation to build ideas and ways to incorporate this community mobilization research method into adolescent-focused research, practice, education, and policy endeavors.