Community health promotion and disaster recovery: a PhotoVoice project in Comerío, Puerto Rico

Background: PhotoVoice - a series of workshops involving participatory photography and narrative-building - was employed in the rural town of Comerío, Puerto Rico (PR) to describe disaster recovery in a rural setting and foster policy dialogue.

Methods: Using PhotoVoice workshops and ethnographic observations, the project describes how women affiliated with a local community-based organization described the priorities for disaster recovery in visual images and narratives. We draw analytically upon theories of intersectionality and coloniality to describe socio-structural and community factors that shape community health in the context of ongoing disasters.

Results: Analysis indicated that gender and generational differences are key intersecting factors that mediate adaptation to disasters in this setting.

Conclusions: The project, which has already shown impacts on local policy decisions, demonstrates the possibilities of using PhotoVoice to foster community-driven crisis responses and policy dialogue that can shape health promotion and disaster recovery responses in PR and elsewhere.