Eyes on the pandemic: using photovoice in group and remotely with social professionals of aged care facilities

• Autor(a) principal: Araújo, Lia
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Outros Autores: Dias, Sofia Fontoura, Marques, Carolinne, Cid-Fernandez, Xosé, Sousa, Liliana
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/8474
• topic: Photovoice; pandemic; aged care services; social workers; COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on aged care services. In Portugal, social workers are key frontline professionals in aged care services. A photovoice program called “Eyes on the Pandemic” was carried out to capture the internal experiences of frontline social workers working in aged care services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photovoice is a qualitative, participatory action-research method in which participants share key experiences of their lives through photographs and narratives (voices) presented and discussed with others. Thirteen social workers between 24 and 41 years old participated. This article describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of this project. The findings suggest that the social workers’ experiences were defined by a reinvention of intervention, the maintenance of a balance between personal and professional life, the crucial importance of teamwork, management of the pandemic repercussions on older people’s well-being, and encounters with the uncertain future. The results illuminate the lived experience of the COVID- 19 pandemic inside aged care facilities and could inform practices and policies by consolidating lessons learned during this difficult period. The benefits of attending the program referred by the participants, lead to conclude that photovoice proved to be a good group intervention tool.