Presentation Type

Poster

Start Date

5-10-2017 11:00 AM

End Date

5-10-2017 1:00 PM

Subjects

Menopause -- Psychological aspects, Menopause -- Social aspects, Social work with menopausal women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to create a women’s menopause discussion group based on the Photo Voice method, to use a narrative approach to learn what is currently relevant in the experience of menopausal women, to reveal insights about menopause as a phase of psychological development, and to bring a visual representation together with narratives to tell a story about the collective psychological themes. Participants were asked to meet and reflect on what has changed in their values, attitudes, aspirations, goals, and outlook on life. Then participants were asked to take pictures over the course of a week, and bring them back to the group to share their stories of the meanings of the photos. Photos and recorded narratives were then sorted into themes, and categories were created with photos and narrative to represent the phases of the inner experience of the menopausal transition that the participants had expressed. The categories were found to reveal the arc of a journey representing a rapid change of self-identity with 9 phases: initiation, self-consciousness, effort, perspective, deconstruction, surrender, reorganization, integration and growth. Participants found value in community connection, with the opportunity to validate and normalize their internal experiences through communication.

Rights

© Copyright the author(s)

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/20061

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May 10th, 11:00 AM May 10th, 1:00 PM

Waiting for the Wisdom to Drop: A Photovoice Exploration of Menopause

The purpose of this study was to create a women’s menopause discussion group based on the Photo Voice method, to use a narrative approach to learn what is currently relevant in the experience of menopausal women, to reveal insights about menopause as a phase of psychological development, and to bring a visual representation together with narratives to tell a story about the collective psychological themes. Participants were asked to meet and reflect on what has changed in their values, attitudes, aspirations, goals, and outlook on life. Then participants were asked to take pictures over the course of a week, and bring them back to the group to share their stories of the meanings of the photos. Photos and recorded narratives were then sorted into themes, and categories were created with photos and narrative to represent the phases of the inner experience of the menopausal transition that the participants had expressed. The categories were found to reveal the arc of a journey representing a rapid change of self-identity with 9 phases: initiation, self-consciousness, effort, perspective, deconstruction, surrender, reorganization, integration and growth. Participants found value in community connection, with the opportunity to validate and normalize their internal experiences through communication.