Engaging First Year Zambian College Students: Exploring Well-Being through Their Own Lens

Background and Purpose:

The experiences of college students in sub-Saharan Africa are largely unexplored in the scientific literature. Studies in Africa rarely explore the perceptions and practices of college or university students. Rather, many studies focus on out-of-school youth, challenges of youth living in poverty, and the dire HIV/AIDS situation and other illnesses affecting African youth. This literature is indicative of common issues that youth face amidst the HIV/AIDs epidemic especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, however it does not render a clear outlook on how youth fair holistically- regarding their social-emotional, physical, and spiritual health. As majority of African countries have populations under 35 years of age, students’ ways of developing habits and making decisions will render long-term impacts on the dynamic state of Africa’s health and well-being.

In this project college students in Zambia were recruited as participant researchers to share their experiences of wellbeing using photovoice. Through the photovoice process individuals are entrusted with cameras to enable them to act as recorders, and potential catalysts for social action and change, in their own communities. This presentation will describe the ways in which Zambian college students define and reflect on their lived experiences of wellbeing and areas of improvement.

Methods: Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth, convenience sampling among social work students at a Zambia urban institution of higher learning. Participants comprised first year students (n=12), 6 males and 6 females. Participants’ age ranged between 18 to 23 years old. A pre-post Photovoice intervention research model was conducted to capture student experiences around the topic of well-being. Students participated in 5 photovoice sessions over a two-week period. The following research questions were developed to guide students exploration process: 1) What is the meaning of well-being among Zambian college students? 2) What are the classifications of well-being among students? 3) How do students practice well-being? Photovoice themes were developed by student participants with the help of graduate student research assistants. Pre-post tests were categorized and analyzed thematically by two different raters, to observe changes in students' knowledge of well-being.

Results and Implications:

Through the photovoice process, Students reported learning about people’s multiple perceptions and practices of wellbeing. Students purposed 12 most relevant domains of wellbeing, including cultural, spiritual and political wellbeing. Establishing and maintaining individual well-being emerged as a key theme in the photovoice process for all students. Social interactions and entertainment (e.g. watching movies, going to church) were described as key activities to maintaining individual well-being. A majority of students reported that photovoice helped them realize their own dissatisfaction with the well-being of the community, but they believe that everyone should find time to contribute to improving it. Students came up with action items to improve their individual and their community wellbeing. This project highlights Zambian college students’ potential to contribute to conversations on wellbeing both negative and positive, individual and communal, beyond what is currently depicted in the literature.