Browsing by Subject "participatory visual research."

The purpose of my research is to find out what kind of experiences participants have when visiting a nature camp on a farm. The study applied the Green Care approach, which promotes nature-based well-being. In my qualitative study, I look at the experiences eight young people have on farm activities. The purpose was to find out what kind of experiences the farm and surrounding nature offered to young people. Another research task was to find out what meanings young people gave to their experiences. The study was conducted between July and August 2020. I used visual research methods in this study. That increases the participation and other positive experiences during the camp. The methods that I used in my research were participant observation and visual diary. The visual diary consisted of photographs and diary of the participants experiences. I used phenomenological and hermeneutical analysis to describe participants experiences. My purpose was to find out which experiences participants considered meaningful. My purpose was to get deeper understanding of the experiences participants had. The most important research result was to realise how positive impact animals and nature had to participants. Participants experienced quietness, nature and animals, friendship and feeling of being a member of a group. That likely supports mental well-being. The presence of animals had also a large role to calm down people around them. Animals can also be seen as provider of social support. The results confirm that the animal-assisted work can be seen as good method in social field.