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"Health is Being Alive": Using Photovoice to Explore Adolescents' Conceptions of Health

Volpe, Lauren E.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5982-6550
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489590155316717

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Curriculum and Instruction (Education).
Health is a highly contested construct. Although a dialogue has emerged among health professionals concerning the most appropriate or accurate definition of health, little is understood about how the average person defines health. Research has indicated a strong connection between educational attainment and health outcomes, where higher academic achievement is associated with a lower likelihood of health-risk behaviors and vice versa. Given the relationship between health and education, this study seeks to develop a more robust account of adolescents’ health perspectives in order to build a more effective health education curriculum that capitalizes on what they already know. This study employs a participatory research approach known as photovoice to provide young people with the opportunity to record and reflect what they define as “health” within their community. The study took place during the summer residential period of an Upward Bound program located at a large public university in the Appalachian region of the United States. Participants were students who enrolled in an elective class titled Storytelling through Health. As part of their participation in the class, students used cellphone cameras to photographically capture what the terms “healthy” and “unhealthy” meant to them and then they uploaded their photographs and captions to a shared Google Photos album that was accessible to all students in the class as well as the instructors and Upward Bound staff. Classroom lesson plans were purposefully designed to engage the students in discussion and analysis of their photographs and captions, with a focus not only on the content of the photos, but also the way in which those photos embodied photographic elements and principles. Data analysis occurred in two phases. A real time in-class exercise engaged the students in an analysis of their own photos during the class and a post-hoc analysis of the photos was completed by the researcher. The results of the analysis revealed that adolescents in this study expressed a variety of definitions and conceptions, with nature, people, and food dominating the themes of their photographs. Consequently, the data calls for an approach to health education that builds upon the daily experiences of adolescents and encourages critical thinking about health-related topics such as nutrition and physical activity. Further, it suggests that embedding health within particular socioecological settings (i.e., urban, rural, Appalachian) can afford opportunities for understanding health within context-specific environments—and, importantly, a deeper awareness of the social, economic, and environmental factors that pose unique advantages and challenges for communities or geographical regions.
Frans Doppen (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Beverly (Committee Member)
Lisa Harrison (Committee Member)
Hyun-Ju Oh (Committee Member)
Dwan Robinson (Committee Member)
147 p.
Curriculum Development; Education; Health; Health Education
education; health education; adolescent health; photovoice; visual methodologies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Volpe, L. E. (2017). "Health is Being Alive": Using Photovoice to Explore Adolescents' Conceptions of Health [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489590155316717

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Volpe, Lauren. "Health is Being Alive": Using Photovoice to Explore Adolescents' Conceptions of Health. 2017. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489590155316717.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Volpe, Lauren. ""Health is Being Alive": Using Photovoice to Explore Adolescents' Conceptions of Health." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1489590155316717

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1489590155316717
603
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.