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E-Border Health
The George Washington University School of Public Health and Human Services released Voices and Images: Tuberculosis Photovoice in a Binational Setting, in Volume II of Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing, 2008.
The 31-page report was authored by Hendrik de Heer, MS, Department of Psychology University of Texas at El Paso, College of Health Sciences University of Texas at El Paso; Eva M. Moya, LMSW, College of Health Sciences University of Texas at El Paso, the U.S. - Mexico Border Health Association; Romel Lacson, MPH, Amaya-Lacson Tuberculosis Photovoice Project Director, University of South Carolina.
The report may be of particular interest to border health partners and others in the United States – México border region.
Abstract:
Every minute, four people die from tuberculosis and 15 more become infected worldwide, despite available inexpensive treatment. Due to geographical, social, and economic characteristics, the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Border area shows elevated tuberculosis (TB) incidence. ‘Photovoice’ is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) strategy that provides cameras to disenfranchised populations affected by a particular health problem (e.g. TB). In the current paper, we present findings from the first ever border binational Photovoice project aimed at ‘spreading the word, not the disease’ by increasing TB awareness, cross-border collaboration, and treatment adherence. Evidence of the program’s effectiveness include public commitments from 25 local and national (U.S. and Mexican) decision- and policy-makers to address TB in the border area, development of a “Call to Action” to eliminate TB, and presentation of an exhibit displaying participants’ photographs and stories to over 3,600 people on more than 25 occasions in the first year of the project. The case study provides an example of the utilization of photography as a communication tool, and how it can empower those affected by a health problem.
You may view this current issue of Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing at: http://www.casesjournal.org/volume2.
To view this report,click here.
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