Dixon Receives Health Promotion Practice Paper of the Year Award
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Community Health Education doctoral candidate Saharra Dixon and colleagues have received Health Promotion Practice’s 2024 Sarah Mazelis Paper of the Year for their publication “Stacked Up Against Us: Using Photovoice and Participatory Methods to Explore Structural Racism’s Impact on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Inequities.” The award will be formally presented during the Society for Public Health Education’s (SOPHE) Awards Ceremony on April 17, 2025 during the SOPHE Annual Conference in Long Beach, CA.
The Sarah Mazelis Paper of the Year Award recognizes authors whose peer-reviewed articles in Health Promotion Practice have made significant contributions to advancing the practice of health education and health promotion programs, policy, or professional preparation. SOPHE established the award to honor the legacy of Sarah Mazelis, a passionate champion of health education and a member of SOPHE who was renowned for her dedication to improving health education practice. She died at a relatively young age, at which time the SOPHE board raised restricted funds to be used in her honor.
In their award notification letter, the selectors noted that “we are looking for a paper of the highest scholarship that will inspire others and demonstrate the discipline and creativity of effective health promotion while using accessible and transparent language. We value papers that demonstrate courage and persistence in the face of structural inequities and complicated lived experiences. We also value a strong conceptual framework, respectful and participatory process, and action that links ‘private troubles and public issues.’ We look for a paper that shines a light for others who will be inspired by the work.”
“I am incredibly proud of this paper and honored by this award,” says Dixon. “As my first publication as lead author in a public health journal, this recognition is a testament to the invaluable support I’ve received throughout this journey. This work underscores the role of arts and culture in public health—a conversation that is gaining momentum. I truly believe UMass Amherst SPHHS is well-positioned to lead these important discussions.”
In her paper, Dixon and collaborators from UMass Amherst, including senior author and faculty advisor Aline Gubrium, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, explore how a Youth Participatory Action Research study used Photovoice and community mapping to explore how structural violence, like racism, impacts the sexual and reproductive health of historically excluded youth as they navigate unjust socio-political landscapes. Youth participants in the study used photography and community maps to identify how the experience of bias, profiling, and tokenism impacted their ability to navigate complex social systems.
With youth voices prioritized, the researchers note, participants explored ways to address structural racism in their lives. Through an Arts and Culture in Public Health framework, the researchers provide an analysis of the ways structural racism functions as a gendered racial project and fundamental cause of adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities, while identifying pathways toward liberation in pursuit of health and well-being.