healthy people 2020 - Society for Public Health Education

✯ Conference Abstracts ✯
saturday | november 6
in stores and schools, unsafe street crossings and sidewalks, and the need
to redevelop certain areas to encourage safe recreation and active living.
The involvement of policy leaders in the project combined with several
dissemination activities has contributed to healthier food offerings in
schools and restaurants, city planning efforts that emphasize walkability
and access to healthy food, and the promotion of youth markets selling
fresh produce. Photovoice is typically used as an advocacy tool to engage
both community residents and political leaders in policy and environmental
solutions to public health issues. We are piloting an innovative
way to apply Photovoice as a qualitative evaluation method, which
includes asking members of community collaboratives to participate in
a second round of photographs and captions to document changes to
their community environment, reflect on the potential impact of those
changes and plan for future advocacy efforts. This presentation will also
describe the experience of using Photovoice as an evaluation tool in
three low income, largely minority communities in Northern California,
presenting results (photographs and captions) and lessons learned.
Using Photovoice to Explore Health Concerns in Female
Asian-Indian College Students Women
Cheryl Cooper, PhD, RN, The University of Texas at Tyler; Susan Yarbrough,
PhD, RN, Associate professor and Assistant Dean, College of Nursing and
Health Sciences The University of Texas at Tyler
For the 2008/09 academic year, the number of international students
attending colleges in the United States increased by 8%, to an all-time
high of 671,616. India remains the leading place of origin for the eighth
consecutive year. For individuals, especially young adults, leaving home
can have a significant effect on health as a result of the many physical and
psychological stressor associated with the immigration process (Jeemon,
2009, Sharma, 2002). As the diversity on college campuses grows, the need
for culturally appropriate health education and care also increases. Little is
known specifically, about young Indian woman immigrants and the issues
that may affect their health and wellness after immigrating to the United
States This qualitative descriptive study was conducted as part of a larger
culture and health project, at a public university in east Texas,during the
fall of 2009. The sample participants were 10 female Asian Indian students
enrolled in full-time graduate study. The qualitative research method, photovoice
was used, in conjunction with traditional focus group methodology,
to explore the participants’ general health related beliefs and attitudes,
their perceptions about the ways in which the immigration experience
has affected their health and well being, the ways they promote personal
health and deal with illness, and the major sources of stress in their daily
lives. The study was conducted in two sessions, held two weeks apart. Only
preliminary results are available at this time, but we plan to have completed
a full data analysis in time for presentation at the November SOPHE
conference. Themes that emerged from this preliminary analysis in
session one include the following:health is perceived as a “life in balance”,
with an emphasis on eating the “right” foods and using the appropriate
remedies(often herbal) to treat and prevent illness; illness is perceived as
a consequence of not doing the “right” things, and/or of disharmony or
disconnection with nature; there is an emphasis on maintaining connection
with family (in India), as the source of most emotional support and
as health advisors; one source of stress was frustration with local health
services, for example, lengthy assessments for “simple” problems. Session
two themes included the following: Participant photographs reflected the
centrality of religion in daily life, the connection with the natural world,
the loneliness of so much empty space, as compared with their homeland,
and the stress related to meeting academic expectations of professors and
of family back home.
Ethical Dilemmas of Digital Storytelling as a Method for
Community Health Education Research and Practice
Aline Gubrium, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst School of
Public Health and Health Sciences; Amy Hill, MA, Silence
Speaks Digital Storytelling
Based on a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework,
digital storytelling may be used to investigate individual, group, or sociocultural
understandings of various health issues, while also increasing
participant input in community health projects. Digital stories are three to
five-minute visual narratives that synthesize images, video, audio recordings
of voice and music, and text to create compelling stories. In this paper
we briefly trace the process of producing a digital story and the various
applications of digital storytelling as a method for public health education
research and practice. We then present a case study of a pilot project using
digital storytelling as a research method and review ethical tensions that
arose over the course of project implementation. In particular, we review
issues of presentation and self-representation in the digital storytelling
process, related especially to performative qualities of story production
and the audience for the story, the process of digital storytelling itself and
how a research angle may run contrary to participatory intents of the
process, and issues of privacy and consent in the production process. We
then analyze the ethics of access to the digital story artifact/outcome—in
relation to the release of digital stories and which audiences can/should
have access to the story, how the stories are displayed, and how the release
and display of the stories interfaces with issues of consent. Finally, we end
by looking at the repercussions of using digital storytelling as a method of
inquiry in community health education research—focusing especially on
IRB concerns, publication of materials, ethical issues that may be encountered
during analysis of visual materials, and conflicting agendas that may
arise between research and intervention applications
plenary session iii
sat/ nov 6 / 10:00 am – 10:45 am / Room: Colorado E-F
Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award & Lecture –
Conquering Cancer in the 21st Century
John Seffrin, PhD, American Cancer Society
The Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award is for a health educator who
has made a substantial contribution to advancing the field of health education
or health promotion through research, program development, or
program delivery. The award is given annually by the James F. and Sarah
T. Fries Foundation in memory of their daughter, Dr. Elizabeth A. Fries
who was Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University
and co-director of the Cancer Outreach Program. Elizabeth died in 2005
of complications from breast cancer chemotherapy at the age of 42. This
year’s award honors John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society,
the world’s largest voluntary health organization fighting cancer.
Dr. Seffrin’s presentation will address the growing burden of cancer and
other non-communicable diseases globally. He will discuss the role of
health education in promoting cancer control in the United States and
how we can apply this knowledge in low and middle income countries
to avert future illness and death. Dr. Seffrin will identify several timely
opportunities for health educators to participate in the prevention and
control of cancer and other non-communicable diseases by prioritizing
these issues on the global health agenda.
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sophe conference ✯ november 4-6, 2010