Speakers
Description
Photovoice has been used in diverse age groups, populations, and settings to allow partici-pants to express their perspectives through photography. Nursing homes represent a particu-larly interesting setting for photovoice because they are partly characterized by elements of what Goffman (1964) has labelled “total institutions”. The aim of this presentation is to analyze the applicability of photovoice to document options and barriers for physical activity promotion in such an institution.
Methodologically based in a multi-sited focused ethnography (Knoblauch, 2005) and a Pho-tovoice study with n=24 participants within the larger BaSAlt project (2019–2022, grant no. ZMVI1-2519FSB114), on PA promotion and counselling in nursing homes, we present oppor-tunities and challenges as well as provide guidelines, with regard to: (1) overcoming fear and building trust between researchers and participants, (2) ethical considerations, (3) ad-dressing technical alienation, (4) deciding about what is relevant from participants’ point of view, (5) invisibility of significant others, (6) making Photovoice research a priority in organi-sational routine, (7) contextualizing the situations depicted on photographs, and (8) COVID19-related challenges for photovoice research in this setting.
We close by discussing that appropriate adaptations need to be taken to allow participants anonymity and safety, so that photovoice can reveal not only activity-promoting and activity-impeding factors, that might not have come into view in other research methods, but also differences in stakeholders' perspectives on physical activity.
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums. Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Anchor.
Knoblauch, H. (2005). Focused Ethnography. FQS, 6(3), Art. 44, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0503440.
