Using photovoice in adolescent health research: a case-study of the Well-being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments (WAVE) Study in Ibadan, Nigeria

Adesola O. Olumide; Emmanuel S. Adebayo; Oladosu A. Ojengbede

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2016-0040

Article

Using photovoice in adolescent health research: a case-study of the Well-being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments (WAVE) Study in Ibadan, Nigeria

Adesola O. Olumide , Emmanuel S. Adebayo and Oladosu A. Ojengbede

Published/Copyright: October 14, 2016

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 30 Issue 2

Abstract

Photovoice is a participatory action research method in which people are given cameras and asked to take pictures of specific issues within their community. It is often used among marginalised populations. This method helps people capture specific issues within their community using photographs, critically discuss these issues within a group and present their findings to inform policies within their community. Photovoice has been used in developed countries and among adult participants; however, the extent to which it has been used in developing countries and among adolescent participants is yet to be extensively reported. In this paper, we describe the use of photovoice among male and female adolescents aged 15–19 years who participated in the qualitative phase (phase I) of the Well-being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments (WAVE) study in Ibadan, Nigeria. The main study was conducted among adolescents residing in disadvantaged communities within five global cities (Baltimore, USA; Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; New Delhi, India and Shanghai, China). Our findings revealed that adolescents in Ibadan were very eager to participate, remained fully engaged throughout the process and the data obtained were rich and detailed. Some challenges encountered with using this method were that younger adolescents had a tendency to attain saturation when taking pictures much earlier than older adolescents; however, they equally discussed the pictures taken enthusiastically. Overall, our findings affirm that photovoice as a data collection method can be successfully used in research among adolescents in developing countries like Nigeria.

Keywords: adolescents; participatory action research; photovoice; vulnerable urban communities

Acknowledgments

The WAVE study was funded in Ibadan by The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health through its funding to The Centre for Population and Reproductive Health (JHSPH no. 2000075627), University of Ibadan. In all the other sites, the WAVE study was funded by The Young Health Program, a partnership between AstraZeneca, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Plan International.

Author contributions: AOO and OAO were the Ibadan site investigators for the WAVE study and were involved in all aspects of the study. They reviewed the papers used for this article and were involved in the write up of the current manuscript. AOO conducted the initial literature search and review and wrote up the first draft of the paper. ESA is currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Child Health, University of Ibadan, and conducted additional literature search and reviews. He was involved in all stages of the write up of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure of potential conflict: The authors have no known conflicts of interest.

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Received: 2016-4-21

Accepted: 2016-8-30

Published Online: 2016-10-14

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2016-0040

Keywords for this article

adolescents; participatory action research; photovoice; vulnerable urban communities