Environmental health perceptions of urban youth from low-income communities: A qualitative photovoice study and framework

Children picturing their own worlds: Using photovoice to amplify children's voice in sociological research

This research note highlights an emerging transdisciplinary research method-photovoice-and why it is particularly suited for sociological studies of children and youth. Traditional social science data collection methods can be limited in their ability to capture both the depth and breadth of childhood experiences and children's perceptions of their experiences. We describe an emerging method, photovoice, that is used more frequently in other disciplines, and its suitability for sociologically studying youth and children. We describe the limitations of traditional social science methods and how photovoice can help overcome some of these limitations. Photovoice engages participants as lived experts who contribute to both the data collection and analysis in an individual and collective manner. Through taking photos and discussing their meaning, participants can share abstract feelings and discuss sensitive topics in an imaginative format and express themselves creatively. We describe how previous research has used photovoice to work with youth from vulnerable circumstances and those who have experienced trauma as well as demonstrate how photovoice is well situated to bolster the tenets of sociological research.

The CHANGE (Climate Health ANalysis Grading Evaluation) tool for weight of evidence reviews on climate change and health research

BACKGROUND

Climate change has been identified as one of the biggest threats to human health. Despite this claim, there are no standardized tools that assess the rigor of published literature for use in weight of evidence (WOE) reviews. Standardized assessment tools are essential for creating clear and comparable WOE reviews. As such, we developed a standardized tool for evaluating the quality of climate change and health studies focused on evaluating studies that quantify exposure-response relationships and studies that implement and/or evaluate adaptation interventions.

METHODS

The authors explored systematic-review methodology to enhance transparency and increase efficiency in summarizing and synthesizing findings from studies on climate change and health research. The authors adapted and extended existing WOE methods to develop the CHANGE (Climate Health ANalysis Grading Evaluation) tool. The resulting assessment tool has been refined through application and subsequent team input.

RESULTS

The CHANGE tool is a two-step standardized tool for systematic review of climate change and health studies of exposure-response relationships and adaptation intervention studies. Step one of the CHANGE tool aims to classify studies included in weight-of-evidence reviews and step two assesses the quality and presence of bias in the climate change and health studies.

CONCLUSION

The application of the CHANGE tool in WOE reviews of climate change and health will lead to increased comparability, objectivity, and transparency within this research area.