Beyond the Illustration of Research Data: Using professionally facilitated image making techniques to enable participants to describe, enhance and extend data originally captured using traditional text-based methods of research

Abstract

Using professionally facilitatedimage making techniques to enable participants to describe, enhance and extend data originally captured using traditional text-based methods of research. The Growing Up with Cancer project design • Young people’s experiences of dealing with cancer, its treatment and long terms consequences at the same time as they are growing up • 19 young people aged 16‐29 years who were diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 11‐22 years • Interviewed about their experiences of growing up with cancer • Created self‐portraits about their experiences of growing up with cancer • Interviewed after completed self‐portrait The benefits of a creative process for a research project • Different to a ‘hit and run’ single interview • Process provided an extended opportunity –and for some, multiple opportunities –to reflect on their experiences • Created different way to think about self and experience • Young people decided what they wanted to represent and how –not all the portraits are simply about cancer • Creative process more than a catalyst for a subsequent interview • Self‐portraits engage research audiences in different way to traditional research outputs