Tell Me—Show Me: Using Combined Focus Group and Photovoice Methods to Gain Understanding of Health Issues in Rural Guatemala

As health researchers, our training is more literary than visual. We are only beginning to learn about the value of photography as a qualitative data collection method. In this article we describe a project utilizing focus groups and photovoice, sequentially, to gather information about health-related conditions in rural Guatemala. In the first phase, the perceptions of a group of comadronas (birth attendants) were elicited using traditional focus group methodology. In the second phase, conducted several months later, the photovoice method was utilized. During this phase, the same participants viewed and responded to photographs taken during the intervening period by some of the phase-one participants. The findings from this two-phase approach support those from other studies that suggest that photovoice provides more in-depth data and the potential for bringing out additional information that might not emerge during traditional interviews or focus group discussions.