Taking pictures to take control: Photovoice as a tool to facilitate empowerment among poor and racial/ethnic minority women with HIV.
Poor and racial/ethnic minority women comprise the majority of women living with HIV (WLH) in the United States. Race, gender, class, and HIV-based stigmas and inequities limit women's powers over their health and compromise their quality of life. To help WLH counter this powerlessness, we implemented a Photovoice project, called Picturing New Possibilities (PNP), and explored how women experienced empowerment through Photovoice. PNP participants (n = 30) photographed their life experiences, attended 3 group discussions and a community exhibit of their photos, and completed a follow-up interview. We used strategies of Grounded Theory to identify key empowerment themes. Participants described empowerment through enhanced self-esteem, self-confidence, critical thinking skills, and control. Our findings suggest that Photovoice is an important tool for WLH. It offers women a way to access internal strengths and use these resources to improve their quality of life and health.
Michelle
M
Teti
Latrice
L
Pichon
Allison
A
Kabel
Rose
R
Farnan
Diane
D
Binson
D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000379:methods; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups; D010781:Photography; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011173:Portraits as Topic; D011203:Poverty; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
Photovoice; empowerment; racial/ethnic minorities; women living with HIV