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Abstract Background The control of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria remains challenging due to the presence of macaque monkeys and predominantly outdoor-biting Anopheles mosquitoes around human settlements. This study aims to explore the barriers and facilitators related to prevention of mosquito bites among rural communities living in Sabah, Malaysia using the participatory visual method, photovoice. Methods From January through June 2022, 26 participants were recruited from four villages in Kudat, Sabah, using purposive sampling. Participants were male and female villagers, aged > 18 years old. After photovoice training in the villages, participants documented facilitators of and barriers related to avoiding mosquito bites using their own smartphone cameras, and provided narratives for their photos. Twelve Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) sessions in three rounds were held to share and discuss the photos, and to address challenges to the avoidance of mosquito bites. All discussions were conducted in the Sabah Malay dialect, and were video and audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The Ideation Model, a meta-theoretical model of behaviour change, underpinned this study. Results The most common types of barriers identified by participants included (I) intrapersonal factors such as low perceived threat of malaria, (II) livelihood and lifestyle activities consisting of the local economy and socio-cultural activities, and (III) physical and social environment. The facilitators were categorized into (I) intrapersonal reasons, including having the opportunity to stay indoors, especially women who are housewives, (II) social support by the households, neaighbours and healthcare workers, and (III) support from healthcare services and malaria awareness program. Participants emphasized the importance of stakeholder's support in implementing feasible and affordable approaches to P. knowlesi malaria control. Conclusion Results provided insights regarding the challenges to preventing P. knowlesi malaria in rural Kudat, Sabah. The participation of communities in research was valuable in expanding knowledge of local challenges and highlighting possible ways to overcome barriers. These findings may be used to improve strategies for zoonotic malaria control, which is critical for advancing social change and minimizing health disparities in malaria prevention.

Digital Story Telling (DST) is an art-based research method used to explore embodied experience of health and initiate dialogue with under-represented groups on issues affecting them. It involves engaging participants to create and share their stories using photos, drawings, and audio recordings in short videos. Benefits of DST include enhancing co-creation of knowledge, empowering participants to confront dominant narratives and revise inaccurate representations. We report our experiences and reflections of using DST to explore community perceptions of health concerns in urban Malawi. Community leaders were briefed about the project before and after study related activities. Three participatory workshops were organized to train community members in DST, support them to develop videos and discuss their experiences of DST. Twenty-six participants from two high density urban communities consented to be part of the workshops. They were all new to DST. All the 26 participants were invited together to the three workshops and their DSTs were developed in smaller groups (n = 7), based on their geographical location. Although we engaged residents from selected communities to share priority health concerns, all the seven groups presented challenges pertaining to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and their powerlessness to address the complex challenges. The collective focus on WASH showed that DST effectively empowered communities to present priority health concerns. The inability of community members to address the challenges without external assistance or failure to use findings from DST to generate social change however raise questions on the ideals of empowerment and social justice. In addition, lack of financial resources or technical know-how to produce digital stories and unequal power relationships between service providers and community, may affect the use of DST for community activism among socio-economically disadvantaged groups. We conclude that DST empowered participants to articulate genuine health challenges that they felt powerless to address. We question the realization of “empowerment” and social justice of vulnerable participants in cases where structural challenges present obstacles to effectively address social inequalities.

• Photovoice was used to narrate the processes and outcomes of urban redevelopment. • The method revealed power relations and patterns of controls in the processes. • Heritage awareness was promoted by engagement in place making practices. • Visual narratives of spatial transformation, sense of place, and attachment were elicited. • Ethical, epistemic, and methodological limitations and challenges are discussed. The use of participatory visual methods has gained significant momentum in visual, urban, planning, and geography research. This article provides methodological understanding of how the photovoice method can contribute to urban redevelopment studies, particularly for producing and narrating interpretive data on the processes and outcomes of urban redevelopment. Photovoice as participant-generated photographs was used to explain and explore the individual experience of involvement in redevelopment projects within selected urban areas in Tehran. Resident research participants captured photographs representing the area and the places within them, and were then individually interviewed in-depth about the significance of the photographs and their own experiences. Other stakeholders, including developers and local authorities, were also interviewed. A total of 36 interviews and 65 photovoice contributions were thematically analysed. Within the urban redevelopment context, photovoice is a multi-faceted resource that can verify the processes and outcomes of urban change. Using this method enabled the scrutiny of the tangible and intangible meanings that the research participants attached to their entities—objects, places, communities, and practices—revealing a certain set of power relations and patterns of controls in urban redevelopment processes. The findings demonstrate the utility and application of photovoice in understandings of place making and heritage value, as well as those of visual narratives of spatial transformation, and residents' perceptions and attachment. The study also discusses the particular epistemic and methodological limitations of photovoice within the urban redevelopment context, including the research process, its potential, and associated challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orientation: Unemployment is a matter of great concern within the South African context. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of students who are in preparation to enter the labour market, to generate data about students’ experiences of being unemployed and to explore the usefulness of diagrams as a data generation tool in exploring such experiences. Motivation for the study: There is need to understand transition experiences of unemployed youths in South Africa and the basis for making interventions. Research approach/design and method: A qualitative research approach utilising a participatory research design technique was used. Main findings: Three main drawings are illustrated that express students’ concern regarding this transition. These drawings heighten the focus on (1) individual evaluation of students as they make the transition, (2) evaluation of the university enrolment experience and (3) students’ concern about their future, albeit the high unemployment rate in South Africa. Managerial/practical implications: Through the reflections from the drawings, suggestions are made to assist researchers, career counsellors and students. Contribution/value-addition: This article contributes to the literature on the use and need of using the visual methodology as a part of data generation, especially when working with vulnerable students.

Digital Story Telling (DST) is an art-based research method used to explore embodied experience of health and initiate dialogue with under-represented groups on issues affecting them. It involves engaging participants to create and share their stories using photos, drawings, and audio recordings in short videos. Benefits of DST include enhancing co-creation of knowledge, empowering participants to confront dominant narratives and revise inaccurate representations. We report our experiences and reflections of using DST to explore community perceptions of health concerns in urban Malawi. Community leaders were briefed about the project before and after study related activities. Three participatory workshops were organized to train community members in DST, support them to develop videos and discuss their experiences of DST. Twenty-six participants from two high density urban communities consented to be part of the workshops. They were all new to DST. All the 26 participants were invited together to the three workshops and their DSTs were developed in smaller groups ( n = 7), based on their geographical location. Although we engaged residents from selected communities to share priority health concerns, all the seven groups presented challenges pertaining to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and their powerlessness to address the complex challenges. The collective focus on WASH showed that DST effectively empowered communities to present priority health concerns. The inability of community members to address the challenges without external assistance or failure to use findings from DST to generate social change however raise questions on the ideals of empowerment and social justice. In addition, lack of financial resources or technical know-how to produce digital stories and unequal power relationships between service providers and community, may affect the use of DST for community activism among socio-economically disadvantaged groups. We conclude that DST empowered participants to articulate genuine health challenges that they felt powerless to address. We question the realization of "empowerment" and social justice of vulnerable participants in cases where structural challenges present obstacles to effectively address social inequalities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Nyirenda, Payesa, Ntaba, Mhango, Kingori, Parker and Desmond.)

'Resilience' is a term that has achieved significant prominence in scientific circles and now within popular discourse. However, its practical application is often unclear or confused because it can mean different things to different people: To resist? To adapt? To transform? In this paper, we propose a framework - System Viability - able to coherently engage with six distinct properties of all systems, from ecosystems to communities, allowing the identification of trade-offs and synergies for maximising the chances of systems persistence. We apply and evaluate the System Viability framework through participatory visual methods within three indigenous communities in the North Rupununi, Guyana. This paper highlights how the framework allows the measurement of community survival strategies in a consistent and theoretically corroborated way, with implications for national and international policy-makers aiming to promote resilience and sustainability.