Greek PhotoVoice Project

We're All in this Together: WSU Greek PhotoVoice Project

With ITGA grant funds, WSU Health Education and the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life (CFSL) worked together with students from the WSU Greek Interfraternity Council (IFC) and fraternity community on the We’re All in This Together: WSU Greek PhotoVoice Project. This project focused on understanding the interaction between Greek community social gatherings, drinking alcohol, and the potential transmission of COVID-19. From this analysis, the goal was to develop community-based harm reduction efforts to address both concerns – high-risk drinking at house parties and spread of the community spread of COVID-19.

What is the International Town & Gown Association (ITGA)?

The ITGA is the premier resource for addressing challenges, emerging issues, and opportunities between and amongst institutions of higher education and the communities in which they reside. The ITGA strengthens these partnerships by providing a network of professionals and resources, identifying and sharing promising practices, innovative solutions, and professional development opportunities for municipal and university communities.

What is PhotoVoice?

PhotoVoice is a process where you can identify, represent, and enhance your community through specific photographic techniques. This approach examines ecological (social, political, public health, economic, cultural, etc.) factors that influence how a specified issue or problem plays itself out in a community. Our use of the PhotoVoice method has 3 main goals:

1. To enable IFC members to record and reflect their community's social practices.
2. To promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through group discussion of the images and report.
3. To inform and assist community leadership and policymakers in developing and enacting harm reduction strategies related to the high-risk context of socializing at Pullman neighborhood house parties and the potential for COVID- 19 transmission and infection.

Toolkit

As part of this project, a toolkit is being developed and will be available after the project has been completed. This toolkit can be used by other campuses or community groups who are interested in implementing a similar harm reduction project within a Greek community or other student living groups. The toolkit will allow you to easily replicate this project and will include:

• Project description
• Methods
• Outcomes
• Forms utilized
• Final executive report

The toolkit will also include information on “lessons learned” about what worked well and what did not work well during the implementation of the project. If you have any questions about the toolkit, please contact Patricia Maarhuis.