Photovoice Project
The purpose of the Photovoice Project is to encourage youth and young adults to use photography to voice the mental health issues they are seeing or experiencing in their communities. We believe photography is a creative approach to encourage reflection and to reach community behavioral health partners.
Background
In the Spring of 2023, Youth MOVE Suncoast partnered with Dr. Margaret McGladrey and the USF lab to execute the Photovoice Project, where youth and young adults used photography to capture how the community supports or neglects mental health.
Youth Move Suncoast partnered with Dr. Margaret McGladrey and the USF lab to better understand how we and other community partners can better serve youth and young adults with our programming post-pandemic. To do this, we started the Photovoice project, where we focused on recording and reflecting community strengths and concerns, promoting critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through large and small group discussions and photographs, and reaching decision-makers and encouraging the adoption of health-promoting policies.
Participating Youth and Young Adult Groups
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Healthy Teens
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Sarasota Teen Court
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National Alliance on Mental Illness young adult groups
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New College young adult groups
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High School Groups
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Boys and Girls Club
Pitch at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to Behavioral Health agencies
Youth MOVE representatives presented the outcomes of the Photovoice project to local behavioral health agencies, emphasizing to community partners the diversity of issues faced by local youth and young adults, the need to make a change, and how youth MOVE Suncoast plans to do so in the near future.
Photovoice Project Summary
1. Concerns Identified by the Photovoice Groups
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Affordable living
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Affordable health care
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Disability accessibility
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Voting Accessibility
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Environmental protection
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Accessible harm reduction
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Livable wages
A lack of:
Too much:
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Substance abuse
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Police intimidation/Over policing
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Social media
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Bottling up emotions
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Stress/Burnout
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Feeling powerless
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Tourism
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Capitalism
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School stress
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Lack of empathy from adults
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Being too busy
The need for:
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Third spaces
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Transportation/Pedestrian needs
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Downtime
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Respectful discussing different
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opinions and ideas
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Accountability
2. Supports Identified by the Photovoice Groups
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Cost-effective activities
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Outdoor activities
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Interacting with animals
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Music
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Art
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Affirmations
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LGBTQ+ friendly/safe spaces
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Safe spaces for people
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Taking action against injustices
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Hanging with friends
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Grassroot action
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Educating ourselves and others
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Mental health education
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Collaboration
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Exercise
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Connection
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Building skills
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Volunteering
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Helping others
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Team building
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Sports
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Friendship
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Games
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Going with the flow
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Mentorship
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Know resource
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Social media that used for good
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Expressing emotions
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Listening/supporting each other
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Meeting new people
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Family
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Rest
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Trust
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Time management
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Disability awareness
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Free events/classes
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Buying local
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Helping people understand our needs
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Getting community leaders involved
Want to learn about our strategic plans in depth?
Healthy Teens Youth Discussion Group
High School Youth Discussion Group
Postcards of photograph and reflection by youth:
Takeaways from youth participants:
National Alliance on Mental Illness Young Adult Discussion Group
Postcards of photograph and reflection by young adults:
Takeaways from young adult participants:
Action Items Identified by young adult participants:
New College of Florida Student Discussion Group
Postcards of photograph and reflection by students:
Action Items Identified by student participants:
