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Tajikistan faces significant food insecurity and multiple forms of malnutrition in its population, with women particularly at risk. Social norms related to gender and intrahousehold hierarchy are pervasive. Yet, how gender impacts dietary intake in Tajikistan remains to be studied. Understanding this mechanism is critical to develop adequate strategies for effective, equitable progress in mitigating malnutrition and food insecurity. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted to assess the extent and identify the drivers of gender-based and intrahousehold differences in dietary diversity in Khatlon Province, Tajikistan. Predictors of dietary diversity were statistically assessed using quantitative survey data from 1704 adults who participated in the 2023 USAID/IFPRI Population-Based Survey. Qualitative data from 12 focus group discussions, 19 individual interviews, and 21 Photovoice interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to further ascertain and understand these drivers. Gender was identified as a predictor of dietary diversity in both quantitative and qualitative findings. Women reported lower dietary diversity than men, even within in the same household. Gender norms contribute to unequal food distribution and opportunities to consume food away from the household. Expressing social values such as respect during mealtimes and perceptions of dietary needs prioritize men and children over women in consuming foods deemed more nutritious (e.g., meat). This study highlights the importance of considering household dynamics and gender roles in equitably addressing food and nutrition insecurity and malnutrition. Mitigating malnutrition in Tajikistan will necessitate gender equity-focused social behavior change interventions targeting women and men across different generations.

We aimed to examine the biopsychosocial spiritual strengths and concerns of college affiliated Muslims living in the southeast U.S. through an online photovoice study to enhance their biopsychosocial spiritual wellbeing. Muslims in the U.S., including those living in the southeast, face many issues (physical attacks, discrimination); yet, they are underserved and understudied. To conduct this study in a culturally and contextually appropriate way, we tailored photovoice to collect data online, modified interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze data, and utilized ecological systems theory and ally theory as our theoretical framework. A total of 131 Muslims participated, of which 118 (80 men and 38 women) completed the participation. The results revealed eight distinct strength and nine concern clusters. The two most reported strengths were having a supportive community (n = 57) and prayer in Islam (n = 43). The two most reported concerns were lack of prayer facilities (n = 54) and lack of support (n = 32). Following the analysis, a photovoice exhibit and a community dinner were held, where the results were shared with the participants, allies (organizations, departments, chaplain, university), and key people such as administrators, the Muslim community, and others interested. The most important issues were addressed through advocacy, and the connection between Muslims and allies seemed to increase. This study has practical implications. Mental and public health professionals as providers, researchers, and educators must focus on the primary clusters to address Muslims’ biopsychosocial spiritual issues and wellbeing. The professionals can utilize the online photovoice to understand and serve other people contextually in more effective ways especially in the face of disasters (e.g., conflicts, wars, epidemics, pandemics, hurricanes) when it is much more convenient to participate online.

This article describes the use of photography as an entry point for undergraduate students to learn about Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory (EST).  Specifically, we discuss how an adapted form of photovoice can support students’ understanding of the “system” levels in EST.   The activities discussed in this article were implemented in two undergraduate courses: one for early childhood education students at a two-year community college and one for public health students at a four-year university.  Through photovoice, students shared autobiographical photographs accompanied by narratives that illustrated examples of the EST system levels in their own lives. This paper discusses how arts-based learning engendered insights about a theoretical framework as well as opportunities for positive interactions with peers.

Background To reduce the spread of COVID-19, several countries in Africa instituted countrywide lockdowns and other public health measures. Whereas lockdowns contributed to the control of the pandemic, there were concerns about the unintended consequences of these measures especially in the most vulnerable populations. We assessed unintended socio-economic and health consequences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the mitigation measures among slum dwellers in Kampala to inform the on-going and future pandemic response strategies. Methods This was a mixed methods cross-sectional study conducted in Bwaise I and Bwaise III slums of Kawempe division, Kampala Uganda from October to December 2020. We used systematic sampling to randomly select 425 household heads for the face-to-face quantitative interviews. We also conducted six focus group discussions (FGDs) with slum dwellers and used photovoice among eight Community Health Workers (CHWs) to document unintended socio-economic and health consequences. Quantitative data were imported into STATA version 14.0 for analysis, while qualitative data were analysed thematically using NVivo version 12. Modified Poisson regression analysis was conducted to establish factors associated with impact on access to food. Results Most respondents reported limited access to food (71.1%; 302/425); disruption in education (77.1%; 270/350); drop in daily income and wages (86.1%; 329/382) and loss of employment (63.1; 125/198). Twenty five percent of the respondents (25.4%; 86/338) reported domestic violence as one of the challenges. Seven themes emerged from the qualitative findings on the impact of COVID-19 including: limited access to food; negative impact on children’s rights (child labour and teenage pregnancies) and education; poor housing and lack of accommodation; negative social behaviours; negative impact on family and child care; reduced income and employment; and negative impact on health and access to health care services. Conclusion The slum dwellers of Bwaise I and Bwaise III experienced several negative socio-economic and health consequences of COVID-19 and its prevention measures that severely affected their wellbeing. Children experienced severe consequences such as child labour and teenage pregnancies among the girls. Response activities should be contextualised to different settings and protocols to protect the vulnerable groups in the community such as children and women should be developed and mainstreamed in response activities.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to demonstrate that rural landowners and community members' place-based, situated knowledge is expertise that should be taken into account by TPC professionals involved with technological or environmental development (e.g., in the energy sector). Method: This paper is grounded in the stories of 31 residents of rural West Virginia who share concerns about ongoing natural gas pipeline development. Through visual and place-based storytelling methods, walk-along interviews (Carpiano, 2009) and photovoice (Sullivan, 2017), a rich collection of stories and photographs that reveal the often-undocumented effects of pipeline development were gathered. Results: The stories of residents living in close proximity to natural gas pipelines reveal two main types of knowledge circulating in conversations about energy development: knowledge rooted in more traditional forms of epistemic authority, such as legal definitions and technical accounts of land; and situated knowledge derived from lived experiences of people directly impacted by technological and environmental changes. Conclusion: Ultimately, we argue that to embrace stories told by rural residents is to center the experiences of communities, which, in turn, legitimizes situated knowledge resulting from first-hand experience. This demonstrates that expertise can be located in spaces outside of corporate, technical, or academic knowledge, and encourages technical communicators to seek out that expertise in their own work.

This study examines a participatory community-based research project in which young people explore various ‘globalization landscapes’ represented in their daily lives. In this photovoice project, each student applies the concept of globalization landscapes that they learned in the classroom to the local community where they live, takes photos of the globalization landscapes represented in their place, and selects the most appropriate case. Then, with their own voices or narratives, students present their chosen interpretations of the photographs that depict globalized landscapes. As a result of this study, it was found that the photovoice project contributed to the improvement of students’ representation and meta-representation competencies in representing the landscape of globalization. We also propose that as a pedagogical tool, photovoice provides a set of pedagogical values for educators. For example, photovoice enables the visualization of young people’s daily experiences, elicits personal meaning and emotion, promotes real-life and active learning, evokes critical consciousness, and strengthens students’ visual literacy and meta-representation competency in terms of their visual reading, writing, and thinking.

The purpose of this review is to expand understanding of the ways culturally ethnically, and racially diverse youth have begun to reimagine urban and rural spaces using digital storytelling and photovoice, two methods that often fall under the broad field of youth participatory action research. To explain the conditions under which these methods favor movement toward socially just ideas and actions, we also build on and extend research in critical youth empowerment to call attention to the relational nature of the kind of work tha positions youth as coresearchers and democratically engaged citizens. Of importance are the availability of safe, nurturing spaces that foster youth engagement, the quality of relationships between youth and adults, and the extent to which decisions and actions remain in the hands of youth. Finally, this review considers the implications for further research and what it could mean to reimagine schools and communities as spaces where youth have a voice as civically engaged citizens.

University students’ mental health and wellbeing has been a global public health issue of increasing concern in recent years, with a growing body of empirical evidence suggesting university students are a ‘very high-risk population’ for mental disorders and psychological distress. Pre-existing mental health challenges among university students have consequently been compounded by the global COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 20 students registered in the education faculty at a large urban university in South Africa participated in a Photovoice study. The research required them to capture three photos or images of their experiences of wellbeing during the pandemic. The findings showed that students experienced mental health concerns and disillusionment with higher education. Their wellbeing was associated with a sense of connection with themselves, their peers and the campus space, and the cultivation of resilience.

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is now commonplace in myriad disciplines from sociology to psychology to environmental science and health and medicine. In the context of my home discipline, public health, CBPR is a collaborative research approach where participants and researchers co-design projects and move them to action to improve health outcomes. CBPR occurs on a lengthy continuum from minor (e.g., community advisory boards) to major (e.g., community PIs) community engagement. Despite numerous and growing examples and varied ways of defining and discussing CBPR, many self-identified CBPR researchers agree that participatory analysis, where researchers and participants work together to evaluate data , is one of the most underdeveloped and least explored aspects of the research approach. Below I summarize the budding literature on participatory analysis, and then via case study, describe one lesser discussed reward of the co-analysis process – how participants can push the boundaries of research findings into new, unforeseen, and needed territories.

Disseminating images is a critical part of the photovoice process to move ideas to action. Viewers can help translate participants’ experiences to change. Yet, we know relatively little about the decisions made around photovoice dissemination or how photovoice images affect audiences. Relatedly, the audiences of photovoice remain understudied. To help close this gap, we describe a community-academic team’s process of moving photovoice results to change in the Reframing Life with HIV project, to chronicle the details of dissemination. This photovoice project was designed to give young, same gender loving men of color living with HIV (HIV + SGLMOC) in the urban Midwest a space to reframe the discussion around HIV medication adherence. Midway through the project, participants pivoted from planning to share their photo-stories with other HIV + SGLMOC via a photo exhibit – to creating a short video to decrease HIV stigma among emerging health professionals. We describe each step of the process and how the team made decisions about moving the project’s results to action and change. Steps included :1. Photovoice, 2. Post project interviews, 3. Video making, 4. Dissemination of stories via the video to teach others, 5. Project evaluation, and 6. Reflecting on lessons learned and next steps. The video that the participants made helped students understand HIV + SGLMOC, that they are human beings first, not illnesses or solely victims. Unfortunately, however, in post-video surveys, participants reported believing that people of certain races/ethnicities spread HIV, an unintended result of the project. Our findings suggest one way to approach photovoice dissemination, based in resilience and empowerment approaches, that is flexible, prioritizes participants’ project decisions, includes photovoice as one component of ongoing change, and underlines the importance of exploring and responding to viewer response to dissemination.