Body Mapping

‘Body mapping’ is a way of telling stories using images or visual aids that contain symbols, to show different meanings and is ‘the process of creating body maps using drawing, painting or other art-based techniques to visually represent aspects of people’s lives, their bodies and the world they live in’. This differs from ‘body maps’, which broadly refer to ‘life-size human body images’ (Gastaldo et al. 2012:5). Body mapping has been found to be a useful tool by those involved in health research and other studies. In this study, the data from body mapping was complemented by the other methods such as focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.

I adapted the body-mapping model as one of the qualitative participatory health research instruments for collecting data on selected variables mentioned in Table 3.1 (Gastaldo et al. 2012:6). I believed that my study was congruent with the visual method or technique that represented the body and how women would understand and contextualise health and illness. Further, it seemed to be an appropriate method to use in a group setting to explore and elicit the perceived health status of women, perceived causes of illnesses and barriers to access and use health care services. In addition, the method would enable the women to visualise and reflect on the parts of the body in which they experienced pains, discomforts and illness, and to communicate with me in a meaningful way about themselves, their perceptions and their experiences. The visual method was considered relevant in a society with high illiteracy rates because it offered participants a means to communicate ideas, experiences, meanings and feelings (Gaunlett & Holzwarth 2006:83– 84, 92) even if they could not read, write or speak English, Tok Pisin or Hiri Motu. 59 percent of PNG’s population has completed primary school, and many of those who do finish lack basic literacy (82 percent) and numeracy skills (64 percent). Half of all school aged children do not attend school and only one in three children complete their basic education (International Finance Corporation. 2019). This contributes to low primary school completion rates with 45 percent for girls compared to 59 percent for

boys. The average level of formal education for adults in PNG is less than 4 years. Between 2006 and 2016, 12.2 percent of the 25 years and older population had at least some secondary education (UNDP 2018). Within this context and with over 80 percent of PNG’s population living in rural areas, and children in rural areas less likely to complete their education than those in urban areas, illiteracy level of rural population is relatively high (UNICEF 2015).

Body mapping was used to open a dialogue between the participants and myself and draw attention to women and health problems. Having women gather around me with the image of the body enabled them to participate freely in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, as shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Body Mapping and Focus Group Discussion with Komakul Village Women in Imbonggu

Body mapping helped to identify common illnesses affecting women, as illustrated in Figure 3.3. In one picture, a woman is pointing to the part of the body in which she was experiencing an illness. If she had been suffering from more than one illness, she would have indicated this with two or three labels. The yellow stickers in the second picture in Figure 3.3 show the number of women in that group who were suffering from illnesses affecting those parts. The picture provided information by the number of labels on the part of the body, on whether an illness was common or unique in the area.

Figure 3.3: Body Mapping Images with Women

Participants were then asked if they were receiving treatment and if not, their reasons for not seeking treatment. This exercise provided an opportunity for the women to share their health conditions with me and with other women in the group and enabled them to tell me their stories about using facilities for treatment. In addition, it provided me with the opportunity to answer questions from women about health issues affecting them and what they could do to prevent illness.

A total of 12 body-mapping exercises were carried out with women at the three sites: four in Rigo, two in Port Moresby North-West and six in Imbonggu. Notes of the discussions were recorded and photographs of the body map for each village were taken. The issues that had been raised were reviewed and summarised at the end of each day.

Table 3.2: Data Extraction and Analysis For analysis of data from body-mapping, data was extracted as shown:

Interview Prompt Participant Response indicated on Picture

Theme from Data

Indicate the part of your body that you experience

discomfort, pain or illness

Coloured sticker on the part of the body

Common illnesses in the area;

Perceived causes of illness;

Barriers to access and use health services The number of coloured stickers placed by women on various parts of the body were counted, and these numbers were compared to determine the most and least of the number of stickers on part of the body. The numbers of stickers were then matched with the

responses provided by women in the interview on the type of illnesses experienced to determine whether the illness was common in the area (de Jager et al. 2016; Lys 2018). Additional contextual information was collected including social and cultural beliefs and practices, population groups, churches, education, settlement patterns and occupation. The content information was obtained by re-reading my notes and the themes emerging from the stickers, and searching for similarities and differences across the pictures in different villages in the district.

To ensure rigor during data analysis, a critical reflection was done on how body-mapping was developed and applied in other studies, particularly its contribution to other qualitative health research (Gastaldo, Rivas-Quarneti & Magalhaes 2018).