Dear HIFA person,
Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh suggested I email you. I have been a member for years. [*see note below]
Would you be interested in a short piece for the HIFA bulletin about our latest research "Exploring the use of solid fuels for cooking and household air pollution in informal settlements through photovoice: the Fuel to Pot study in Ndirande (Malawi) and Mukuru (Kenya)".
It involved community engagement with residents most affected and gathered their views. (https://lnkd.in/ectAB9CF) [direct link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0316095& ]
Our study is below:
Worldwide, 2.4 billion people rely on solid fuels such as wood or charcoal for cooking, leading to approximately 3.2 million deaths per year from illnesses attributable to household air pollution. Across Africa, household air pollution generated by solid fuel use accounts for nearly 700,000 deaths each year. Most studies to date have focused either household air pollution exposure, its impacts on particular health outcomes or on the efficacy of mitigation interventions. However, the economic, social, and cultural determinants of household air pollution in Africa are still poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to explore people’s experience of using solid fuels for cooking in two informal settlements, Ndirande in Malawi and Mukuru in Kenya, and the associated harms caused by household air pollution.
We adopted a community-based participatory method, photovoice. This is a visual participatory method originally developed by Wang and Burris, which aimed to enable community participants to document their own issues and assets, in order to support collective advocacy. The method consists broadly in developing or sharing a study goal with participants, recruiting and training participants in the use of cameras so they may take photos themselves which represent the issues of concern to them in their communities. The participants and researchers later come together to analyze the photos and their meaning, to discuss the issues raised, with the end purpose of developing actions or advocacy campaigns which are contextually relevant. The photovoice method allows for a unique perspective on solid fuel use and HAP harms at household and local community level and one that is currently too rare in the literature, particularly in informal settlements contexts.Our photovoice was conducted with 9 participants in Ndirande and 10 participants in Mukuru. Participants took pictures reflecting their experiences and perceptions of household air pollution harms over a two-week period, and later discussed, sorted and analysed those in a series of meetings. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.
With their pictures, participants described fuel stacking and switching behaviours in their communities. They described a mix of charcoal, firewood and other biomass fuels use. They also expressed their awareness and perceptions of the harms caused by smoke when cooking. Participants explained the simple behaviours used by residents to minimize the harms of household air pollution to themselves and within their own household. Other themes explored the roles and responsibilities for procuring fuels in the home, and the stated solutions required to address the issues and manage the transition to cleaner fuels in those informal settlements.
This study highlights not only the need to understand the daily life, priorities and concerns of those who use solid fuels on informal settlements, but also the urgency to place them and their experience at the heart of the solutions that will reduce the health harms of household air pollution.
HIFA profile: Isabelle Uny is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Marketing and Health research-University of Stirling, UK. Professional interests: Maternal health; maternal health policy; policy implementation analysis; tobacco; alcohol; NCDs; policymaking; global health. Email address: isabelle.uny AT stir.ac.uk
[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Thank you Isabelle. 'Participants took pictures reflecting their experiences and perceptions of household air pollution harms over a two-week period, and later discussed, sorted and analysed those in a series of meetings.' This innovative approach - photovoice - is very interesting and we look forward to hear more about it. It provides a mechanism for participants (and observers) to better understand harms (and benefits) across all areas of health. Potentially it is especially powerful as it engages participants directly in creating and exploring content. I note that the Journal of Health Communication had an issue dedicated to photovoice in 2022: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/hpp/Photovoice%20Issue... Do other HIFA members have experiece with this or similar approaches?]