Photovoice Groups on Child and Youth Mental Health: Lessons Learned under the Global Pandemic

Overview: This presentation reports on the challenges and resiliencies of a Photovoice Group Project in Canada on child and youth mental health amid pandemic context. The existing intersecting inequity of mental health services provision is magnified by social distancing restrictions and online learning fatigue.Proposal text: Background/Rationale
Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1995, 1998) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000), a Photovoice Group Project was developed to engage children and youth, parents, and community partners for promoting early intervention of mental health and mental wellness among children and youth (ages 12 -17) in Canada.

Methodology
Informed by the participatory approach (Ohmer & Owens, 2013), six Photovoice groups were developed and aimed to be implemented in three socio-economic and geographically different cities in Canada to engage youth to discuss mental health issues from their lens.

Results
This community-based project was developed with a strong emphasis on engagement and responses to community needs. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic emerged in Canada in the Spring of 2020. Due to school closure, work from home arrangement, and uncertainty over the development of the pandemic, the project team quickly developed the Photovoice Group with adaptable activities that could be easily converted to either face-to-face or online delivery. We started recruiting participants for the first two Photovoice groups in two of the selected locations in the Spring 2021. Nevertheless, the enrollment did not meet the minimal registration threshold of six in each of the location. Feedback from parents and community partners indicated that many young persons were not ready for another online activity after school. Having said that, we had interested individuals from the two different locations; therefore, we quickly adjusted and offered joint group membership from the three selected locations. Eventually, we successfully commenced and completed the first online inter-city Photovoice Group. While considering the feedback from our community partners about online learning fatigue among young people, we offered two other face-to-face Photovoice Groups in collaboration with our partnering agencies in the Fall 2021; however, to our surprise the enrollment did not meet the minimal registration threshold either. We adjusted again and offered a second inter-city online Photovoice Group in late Fall 2021. Even though this second inter-city online group was successfully completed, the enrollment marginally met the registration threshold. A fundamental question came up about the value of Photovoice as a method to attract young people, who use social media and photo postings on a regular basis. In this presentation, we will: 1) share the program evaluation feedback from the participants and parents; 2) discuss lessons learned from the back-and-forth modifications of our face-to-face and online deliveries of the Photovoice Groups amid uncertainty under the pandemic; 3) examine the value of using Photovoice as a tool for youth engagement; and 4) explore recruitment strategies that are more effective to reach young people.

Conclusion
Social disconnection among peers and the unavailability of many recreational and sporting activities, together with familial and environmental stressors during the pandemic have intensified the prevalence and severity of child and youth mental health issues. Lessons learned from this community-university partnership Photovoice project provides valuable reflection on the development of evidence-based social work practice in the informational age and the time of uncertainty.