Using Participatory Photovoice Research to Understand Food Allergy Risk in Accra, Ghana

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCD) are becoming a significant public health issue in Ghana. While a national policy response exists to prevent the burden of NCDs, little attention is given to food allergy, a growing allergic disease in much of the world. Understanding the illness experience of individuals can provide useful information on place-based factors that facilitate or militate against health and well-being, as well as reveal the agency of individuals to modify their social context in-spite of illness. This chapter highlights the application of photovoice, a participatory qualitative research approach to understand the experiences of people with food allergy in an urban setting in a low- and middle-income country context (Ghana). We identified the multiple spaces of exposure to children, as well as the institutional and policy barriers that pose a difficult challenge for the diagnosis, treatment and management of food allergy in a developing country setting. Despite challenges, photovoice provides an opportunity for linking food allergy experiences with the social circumstances within which people live and work.