Method

Photovoice can facilitate an authentic and meaningful method of co-creating/co-producing knowledge in healthcare.2–9 Our workshops were hosted at community centres in London and Manchester (England). The project was explained verbally and through the distribution of information leaflets, while any queries were addressed. We then sought informed consent, distributed disposable cameras and notebooks with prepaid envelops for their return, before asking participants to take photos (post-workshop) of their realities of severe mental illness or its treatment. Participants were reassured that there were no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ approaches and no professional photographic training was provided to ensure that photos represented their views. Photos from returned cameras were then developed for subsequent workshops (approximately 2–3 weeks later), where participants selected three to five photos for individual reflection guided by photo-trigger questions. Any individuals’ faces shown in images, including participants’, were blurred unless they signed a separate consent form. Based on their narratives, photo captions were produced with participants individually and closed exhibitions facilitated at the community centres to protect participants’ identity and to give the option to amend their captions before the public exhibitions (figure 1).