Reproductive health justice: Using Photovoice to fight cervical cancer in Little Haiti, Miami

Background Haitian women residing in Little Haiti in Miami, Florida, shoulder a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer. As part of an ongoing campus-community partnership guided by Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), we created a council of Haitian immigrant women to identify potential screening barriers using Photovoice. This innovative initiative blends photography and social action, allowing women to document cervical cancer disparities in their community through their eyes.

Objective To describe innovative methods consistent with a social justice approach in fighting cervical health inequities among Haitian immigrant women residing in Little Haiti, Miami, FL.

Methods Ten Haitian women Community Health Workers (CHWs) used digital cameras to identify cancer screening barriers in Little Haiti. The CHWs constructed narrative to complement the images they captured, constituting a participatory means of sharing expertise to define and document community health problems to inform future health policy.

Results CHWs identified barriers to cervical health that fell into three categories: Structural, cultural and psychosocial. Structural barriers included a lack of available information in Kreyol, cost of screenings and immigration status. Cultural barriers included health beliefs defining illness as symptomatic and etiologic beliefs about cancer that are incongruent with secondary prevention promotion. Psychosocial barriers consisted of fear and modesty associated with gynecological exams, and fear of a cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions Women's use of images and narrative to document barriers to cervical cancer screening served to highlight glaring inequities in their community's reproductive health. This participatory method empowers women to tell their story in efforts to effect positive social change.