Insights on the COVID-19 pandemic: Youth engagement through Photovoice

Christina J Pickering; Zobaida Al-Baldawi; Lauren McVean; Munira Adan; Raissa A Amany; Zaynab Al-Baldawi; Lucy Baker; Tracey O'Sullivan

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103420

Insights on the COVID-19 pandemic: Youth engagement through Photovoice

Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2022 Dec:83:103420. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103420. Epub 2022 Nov 5.

Authors

Christina J Pickering^{1

2

3}, Zobaida Al-Baldawi^{1

4}, Lauren McVean^{1

5}, Munira Adan^{1

2

3}, Raissa A Amany^{1

2

3}, Zaynab Al-Baldawi¹, Lucy Baker^{1

6}, Tracey O'Sullivan^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ EnRiCH Youth Research Team, EnRiCH Research Lab, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
² Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
³ LIFE Research Institute, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
⁴ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
⁵ School of Community Services, Seneca College, 13990 Dufferin St, King City, ON, L7B 1B3, Canada.
⁶ School of Psychology, Concordia University, 1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve O, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada.

Abstract

Youth engagement in disaster risk reduction is a growing area of research, practice and policy. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for improved opportunities for youth to participate and have their voices heard. Our Photovoice study explores experiences, perceptions, and insights of youth regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, while providing an opportunity for youth to participate in disaster risk reduction and contribute to resilient communities. We conducted nine focus groups from February 2019 to August 2020 with four teenaged youth; we analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and hosted two virtual Photovoice exhibitions. Our results explore youth experiences of public health measures, impacts of the pandemic, pandemic magnification of social inequities, and the power of youth to create change. We provide six calls to action, focusing on a holistic, upstream, all-of-society approach for stakeholders to collaborate with youth in creating change on complex social justice issues to support COVID-19 recovery.

Keywords: COVID-19; Community resilience; Disaster; Photovoice; Youth; Youth participation.