Health Lessons Through Children\u27s Photographs: Photovoice with School-Children in Rural Rwanda, An Evaluation of Jeff Health\u27s Soil-Transmitted Helminths Education Program

The two aims of this study were to 1) use photovoice to evaluate the current Jeff HEALTH soil-transmitted helminth (STH) education program in Akarambi Village and 2) identify other health topics deemed important by the community. Photovoice methodology was used to determine whether knowledge from the 2012 STH education program was retained over time and to identify barriers or enablers to health in the community. Photovoice is a community based participatory research method that enables people to record their community\u27s strengths and concerns, promotes critical dialogue through group discussions of photographs, and reaches policymakers. Ten children from Akarambi village in Rwanda participated in the photovoice project. During the course of the study, participants took 242 photographs. Of these, participants selected 42 photographs, which they thought were the most significant, and arranged them into themes. Two main themes were identified, each with three sub-themes. The theme things which can make children healthy had sub-themes food crops can provide good nutrition, behaviors that help children keep good health, and animals can provide money and food. The other major theme was things which can make children unhealthy. The three sub-themes were activities which can make children tired, dangerous activities for children, and sources of infection. Participants voted on the themes in order of importance and identified animals as a source of money and food and behaviors that help children keep good health as the most important themes. The results from this study demonstrate that 1) knowledge from Jeff HEALTH’s 2012 STH education program had been retained over time and 2) photovoice was a successful method for obtaining information about barriers and enablers to good health in Akarambi Village. Presentation: 29 minute