Next fall, individuals living with disabilities will use photography to explore their experiences with physical activity and healthy eating as part of the We Can Do It (WCDI) program. Interprofessional student teams will work alongside them to analyze and discuss the images, then share what they have learned with the community. The approach, known as photovoice, flips the typical photographer–subject dynamic, giving the camera to the people whose stories are being told and inviting a conversation with students about what the images reveal.
WCDI is a long-running interprofessional service-learning program designed to promote physical activity and healthy eating among individuals with cognitive or physical disabilities. Launched in the Department of Physical Therapy in 2014, the program has expanded over the years to include students from the Department of Occupational Therapy, BS in Disability Studies and Rehabilitation Science, and the Department of Human Studies in the School of Education and Human Sciences. In 2025, WCDI included 162 learners from those four academic programs, three community partners, and 96 community participants.
The photovoice initiative is made possible by an $11,050 Education Innovation Grant awarded to Chris Eidson, PhD, OTR/L, associate professor of occupational therapy. The grant, one of several faculty awards recently announced by the School of Health Professions, will fund cameras and tripods for community participants as well as summer photovoice training for faculty members, who will integrate the method into fall 2026 courses.
Faculty will evaluate student learning across five areas: teamwork, intercultural knowledge and competence, civic engagement, critical thinking, and integrative learning. Peers and community participants will weigh in, too, and students will track their own learning through reflective journals.
Dr. Eidson notes that photovoice is designed not only to enrich individual learning but also to strengthen interprofessional teamwork and deepen the service-learning experience. His collaborators on the grant are Rachel Ashcraft, MS, OTR/L, TBRI® Practitioner, assistant professor of occupational therapy and program director of the Multitiered Approach to Trauma Graduate Certificate; Laurie Malone, PhD, MPH, associate professor of occupational therapy; and Tara Pearce, PT, DHS, director of clinical education and associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy.
