Figure 18. Photovoice: using images to communicate and advocate.

Photovoice is a participatory action research strategy commonly used with disadvantaged and marginalised groups. Photos are used to document personal and community issues and provide a basis for storytelling. It is a powerful tool for youth engagement, raising awareness of important aspects of the lives of adolescents. It is a useful way of levelling power differentials between adults and young participants. The strategy can be a means to catalyse community action, as the development of a story narrative facilitates the engagement of all participants in engaging in social change. It has been used across a wide variety of settings including health care (eg, young survivors of childhood cancer in South Korea), prevention and health promotion (eg, obesity prevention in the USA, reproductive health and empowerment programme targeting married adolescent girls in Ethiopia), and in youth engagement more broadly (adolescents identifying community strengths in Kenya). The images powerfully engage public interest in the daily lives and health challenges faced by young people.