School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
The Use of Participatory Visual Methods With Community Health Workers: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature
Document Type
Poster
Abstract Category
Global Health
Keywords
Community health worker, photovoice, digital storytelling, participatory video, participatory visual research methodologies
Publication Date
Spring 5-1-2019
Abstract
With the need to design and evaluate Community Health Worker (CHW) programmes from a more human-centered perspective, researchers and program managers are exploring the role of participatory visual methodologies (PVMs). Studies have shown that PVMs encourage participants to both document and reflect on their personal experiences using visual methods. As a result, the ideas, images, and voices of CHWs can be more deeply integrated in the design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare programmes. Although the use of PVMs in global health with different marginalized groups have been published, there has yet to be a systematic review to data that assess their use with CHWs. This review identifies, maps, and assesses the quality of current literature that describes the use of PVMs with CHWs. It includes material from the grey literature and 10 major databases between 1979-2018. A Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Qualitative checklist was used to assess the overall quality of the included studies. 12 original studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were located in North America (n=9) or sub-Saharan Africa (n=3), with photovoice (n=6) and digital storytelling (n=5) being the most commonly used forms of PVMs. The overall quality of the evidence described in these articles was high, but it was notable that seven studies did not fully report the ethical considerations of their work. Major themes of these studies indicated that PVMs can (1) assist in CHWs’ reflective practice and community understanding of important health topics, and (2) are a way of identifying key issues in the community to potentially leverage social action. Importantly more work needs to be done to consider the ethical issues of using PVMs with CHWs, including ownership of the images and confidentiality.
Open Access
1
The Use of Participatory Visual Methods With Community Health Workers: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature
With the need to design and evaluate Community Health Worker (CHW) programmes from a more human-centered perspective, researchers and program managers are exploring the role of participatory visual methodologies (PVMs). Studies have shown that PVMs encourage participants to both document and reflect on their personal experiences using visual methods. As a result, the ideas, images, and voices of CHWs can be more deeply integrated in the design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare programmes. Although the use of PVMs in global health with different marginalized groups have been published, there has yet to be a systematic review to data that assess their use with CHWs. This review identifies, maps, and assesses the quality of current literature that describes the use of PVMs with CHWs. It includes material from the grey literature and 10 major databases between 1979-2018. A Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Qualitative checklist was used to assess the overall quality of the included studies. 12 original studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were located in North America (n=9) or sub-Saharan Africa (n=3), with photovoice (n=6) and digital storytelling (n=5) being the most commonly used forms of PVMs. The overall quality of the evidence described in these articles was high, but it was notable that seven studies did not fully report the ethical considerations of their work. Major themes of these studies indicated that PVMs can (1) assist in CHWs’ reflective practice and community understanding of important health topics, and (2) are a way of identifying key issues in the community to potentially leverage social action. Importantly more work needs to be done to consider the ethical issues of using PVMs with CHWs, including ownership of the images and confidentiality.
Comments
Presented at Research Days 2019.