Creating upstream change in mental health through Photovoice

People with serious mental illness die an average of 25 years younger than the general population (Flanagan, et al., 2016). Social exclusion and stigma have been identified as being at the core of health disparities and barriers to meaningful community involvement for people with serious mental illness (Reid & Alonso, 2018). To address the complex and detrimental effects of stigma and social exclusion, Imagining Inclusion used Community Based Participatory Research methodology, Photovoice, to explore experiences of community inclusion, health and well-being for individuals with serious mental illness and will use the findings to foster organizational and societal change. With Photovoice research, participants take photos about their lived experience and speak about how they relate to themselves, community and society (Reid & Alonso, 2018). In Imagining Inclusion Phase 3 we will examine the characteristics and outcomes of the Photovoice process, and the role of peers and therapeutic recreation in helping to create stigma resistance at the personal, peer, and public levels. We will develop an evidence-based toolkit that can be used to adopt and sustain the key elements of the Photovoice process across allied health and therapeutic recreation services for people with serious mental illness.