ABSTRACT
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is increasingly used in health research to help assess the needs of communities and to empower those communities to change at the systems, environment or policy level. Conducting CBPR projects with teens presents unique opportunities and challenges because with the right choice of methodologies and effective mentoring from adults, teens can participate as full partners in the project’s research and advocacy aims. Methodologies such as Photovoice can serve a dual function: as a research tool and leadership building intervention. In this chapter we discuss how a mixed methods approach using two qualitative methodologies, focus groups and Photovoice, can inform, enrich and sustain a CBPR project with adolescents. The chapter begins with an overview of CBPR. Next, we examine strengths and weaknesses of focus groups and Photovoice when used with adolescents and their families within a CBPR framework. Our final section provides a rationale for combining the two methodologies. To illustrate our points, we draw on our experiences as partners in a long-running community-based obesity prevention programme for Latina teens.
