Photos are often used to document a trip or special event; they capture fleeting moments in time, and often pieces of art as well. A team of teens in Bayfield, CO are using photos in a slightly different way through a specific technique called photovoice. The goal of the EPIC team (which stands for Every Pregnancy is Considered) is to improve the lives of teens in their small town. To do so they are using photographs of everyday occurrences to document the strengths and weaknesses they see in their community.

The photo above seems simple enough--a nice snow covered playground. To the artist however, the park is an example of how there are plenty of community resources dedicated to smaller children in the community, but the teens lack a fun, safe space of their own, and they're just a little too big for the playground. The other photos in the exhibit include pictures of family members who are important to the teens, fun things to do in other surrounding towns that are hard to access without reliable transportation, and how the teens entertain themselves in their town.

The team of talented artists presented at the Colorado Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention's annual conference in Denver, CO. The teens and photos certainly stole the show, and it was great to hear from them directly what they thought might help prevent risky adolescent behavior in their town. The most striking part of the presentation is that it is not just teens telling you what they think--the images allow you to have a sneak peak into their lives. They had a few ideas for what the community might do: a mobile health clinic, a teen center, and reliable, low-cost transportation to nearby towns were a few of the suggestions.

Have you ever used photovoice? How could photovoice serve your community?

Soap operas. They've been a part of the American television landscape since the 1950s. The loss of Guiding Light last week, on the air for 57 years (not counting its 15 years on the radio), clearly demonstrates the obsession and passion Americans feel for the characters of their favorite "made for TV" fantasies.

Not surprisingly, Latinos love their soap operas too. Unlike their American counterparts, telenovelas (soap operas from Spanish-speaking countries) are aired in the evening. They are often a nightly ritual, watched by the entire family, and are a popular form of entertainment for people of all age groups.

In a real life example of putting your money where your mouth is, the Colorado legislature passed and Governor Ritter signed into law a bill that would expand Medicaid to cover an additional 100,000 uninsured individuals in the state. Pending approval from the federal government, the state would impose a fee on hospitals to raise the necessary funds, which the federal government would then match, to cover the cost.

Why are we so concerned about what our friends in the Wild West are doing, you ask? Because Medicaid is by far the largest source of funding for family planning services in the United States--it accounted for fully 71 percent of all state and federal spending on family planning in 2006--and these publicly funded services are critical to our ability to reduce this nation's stubbornly high rates of unplanned pregnancy. Expanding access to family planning means better maternal and child health outcomes, significant savings for taxpayers and government alike, and reducing the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy. But I'm preaching to the choir (and if not, here's a cheat sheet).

Read more about our love affair with Medicaid here.