Cultivating Meaning: A Photovoice Project Exploring Life in an Intentionally Inclusive and Sustainable Community Farm

Peacehaven Community Farm (NC) is a sustainable farm and affordable, residential community for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  This poster presentation offers the audience information on the Photovoice method, as well as study findings from a Photovoice project conducted at Peacehaven Community Farm. Photovoice is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) technique that puts cameras in to the hands of participants and empowers them to guide data collection efforts by documenting their observations about various phenomena through photography and developing narratives about the photographs.

Faculty and students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in collaboration with Peacehaven staff, residents with IDD, called “Core Members”, and community volunteers participated in a Photovoice project to explore life in an intentionally inclusive and sustainable community farm. This project served as a chance for participants to teach others about their lives, and what being part of the Peacehaven community means to them. This project also provided participants the opportunity to recognize the importance of their voices and opinions, in addition to bringing greater community awareness to their experiences and needs through their photographs.

Participants were trained and equipped with cameras and asked to go into their community and photograph people, places and things that represent their community. The photographs taken were then used for the purpose of triggering discussion amongst others participating in the project as a focus group, and then analyzed with participants to determine themes.  As a CBPR technique, Photovoice is beneficial as it seeks to empower community members to be the “experts” of their own lives and experiences, and treats participants as co-investigators rather than the subjects of research. Participants in this project were included at every stage of the research process from data collection, data analysis, dissemination, and even when developing and implementing change projects based on outcomes.

Finally, the outcomes of this Photovoice project allowed typically less-heard individuals (e.g., those with IDD) to have a voice through the promotion of reflection and dialogue, and dissemination of their findings. Emerging themes included: the meaning of place, nature as therapy, the need for self-care and respite for staff, self-efficacy and empowerment, the need for improved volunteer project management, and the need for advocacy for people with IDD. Each theme resulted in discussions with the organization’s leadership and the development of new policies to address concerns as well as ways to support aspects they saw as strengths in their community. Additionally, their data has been used to reach potential donors and volunteers. This research project raised critical consciousness about inclusive living and sustainability for young adults with IDD using a visual tool to reach a broader audience for community change. This poster presentation is but one way to disseminate to broader audiences, and is a way to foster dialogue and encourage communities to embrace inclusiveness for people with IDD and promote environmentally sustainable practices. Participants helped in the development of this poster presentation; some are co-presenters of this poster presentation at this conference.