please, do reach out with reactions & recommendations.
the.engaging.project@gmail.com
Grace Ellrodt
Student-Researcher & Project Creator
get in touch.
the person (people!) behind this project.
Grace Ellrodt | Student-Researcher & Project Creator
Bates College '20 graduate, now based in Massachusetts.
As a student-researcher bringing public health and environmental studies together, I explore how the places we live impact relationships and health, especially for older adults in our communities.
This is the latest and largest of a few dives I’ve taken into the worlds of qualitative (interview-based) research and multimedia, interactive storytelling and presentation.
This project began for me as as a student studying abroad in Chile on a program in Public Health and Traditional Medicine. I spent months in northern Chile living in a homestay with a family who patiently endowed me with my working Spanish, who I speak to to this day. I then spent a final month living in the southern region of Temuco, with another gracious host mother. There, I completed the fieldwork featured in snapshots in this project.
Inspired to continue this work in Maine where I believe the topic deserved attention, I completed this year-long project in fulfillment of my environmental studies thesis.
+ This leads to many thanks.
To all participants, older adults and professionals, who shared their voices (many quite literally) and gave a college gal who called them up a chance to sit down and talk. Often about the hardest days, always about the joyful years.
To my parents for instilling a curiosity in health and a belief that an engaged, highest-quality life is possible not just for myself, but, and just as importantly, for the communities I call home.
To my grandmother for showing me what it means to be 86 only on record, not in spirit nor form.
To the Maine families who welcomed me to their homes, brought me on adventures, and on top of it all, gave me many contacts for interviews which were essential for this project to get off the ground. I’ll hold back on your names, but you know who you are.
To the Chilean families who gave me language, security, and enthusiasm when pursuing a totally new topic in a totally new country. Thank you for steering me on this course.
To the Bates College advisors who guided me through the thorny theory, frustrating fieldwork moments, and through to the publicly-accessible products I’ve strived to share here. Professor Jane Costlow saw what this project could be before I did. Were it not for her, this interactive website might be an 100-page stack of paper on a shelf somewhere. And to Francis Eanes, whose soundness and practicality pairs with an ethical commitment to shared, and aptly-shared, research.
To the Bates College Harward Center, where Darby Ray and Sam Boss gathered community-engaged research fellows together over homemade chili and fresh bread to talk about what it means to do research with community partners, and for a public audience, and how to do that work with integrity and purpose.
To the Lewiston Public Library, which generously offered the use of its space for public exhibits which could not come to pass as a result of corona virus cancellations.
To expert supports Dr. Marilyn Guglucci and Shirl Weaver, who, in the earliest and shakiest weeks of my Maine fieldwork, declared themselves “undying believers and supporters for your becoming one of the leading lights in gerontology (or whatever is your destination.)”
To my grounded friends at Bates, who gave advice when asked, steadiness when required, and outdoor distraction when requested or simply wanted.
To the person who has linked lives with mine for almost 7 years, who heard about this project rather incessantly on nightly calls, weekend visits, and a rather lengthy stint apart so that I could study abroad and zip around Maine exactly as I yearned to.
Meeting with my thesis advisor at Bates College in Maine.
A Maine family, some pictured, who helped me lay roots for this project, and for myself.
My grandmother, who does, and is, just about everything.
My host mother in Arica, Chile, a guiding light.
My host mother in Temuco, Chile, an eye-opening woman.
A Maine moment.
all about the media
This project includes three types of media: photography, audio recordings, and graphics.
Here are details about my rights to use each of them on the basis of prior permission, though participants will always retain the final right over them.
+ General Consent Protocol & Ethics Review Board Approval
This kind of qualitative research project required me to reach out to both older adults and professionals to ask for the chance to interview them informally. I always announced the main intent of my project, and made clear that participation was entirely voluntary. For those who agreed to an interview, I then began my consent protocol, which varied for professionals versus older adults.
The core of my standard consent protocol was the use of written forms which participants reviewed and signed at their discretion.
Consent forms: General Participant Consent Form and Audiovisual Consent Form.
Ethics Review: Both forms received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval via one of two bodies. Fieldwork in Temuco, Chile received IRB approval via the School for International Training. Fieldwork in Maine received approval from the Bates College IRB, which also accepted the School for International Training’s prior approval of Chile fieldwork, so that it might be incorporated into this project. Evidence of approval is available upon inquiry.
Professionals interviewed, whose photographs were not taken nor recordings of their voices published, signed only the General Consent Form. They thus agreed to be identified by their job title and organization. Any quotes used in this project are direct quotes when presented as quotes, or very close paraphrase when presented as summaries. Any professional interviewed should reach out if quotes do not represent their views so that they can be changed to reflect their stance accurately, as that was my only objective.
Older adults featured in this project signed both the General Consent form and Audiovisual Consent Form, which I read aloud and reviewed with the person in detail. Generally, participants waited until we had completed the interview to sign both forms, which I recommended so that they could sign knowing exactly what we had discussed, and what media I had captured. The form has two different components: consent to release the audio recording of our conversation for public use, and consent to release the photographs taken of the person for public use. Participants could agree to sign one, both, or neither. Therefore, older adults could have chosen to contribute without their photo or voice being included. All agreed voluntarily to sign release the use of both, often excited about the power of voice and photo to tell their stories.
+ Photography
The language around photography included in the Audiovisual Consent Form was reviewed with and signed by every older adult featured. Photographs include a caption noting I am the photographer, that these photos are intentionally anonymous, and that I have received the subject's consent.
After taking a photo of an older adult participant, I showed it to the person just as it is shared on this website, to ensure it met the subject’s standard for anonymity, and just that they were generally comfortable with that photo being shared publicly. Of course, those feelings can change, so see below if you have concerns.
All photos are taken on a iPhone, not a high-quality camera. I did this because I did not have a high-quality camera available, especially when traveling around Chile, nor did I want to bring one into people's homes in case it made a person wary. Please excuse lower-quality footage, and know these were quick snapshots meant to reflect a given moment realistically, not perfectly.
+ Audio recordings
The language around audio recordings included in the Audiovisual Consent Form was reviewed with and signed by every older adult featured.
Typically, to restate, this release was signed after the interview so that the person was aware of what had been shared with me. If audio is not suitable to be shared, I will remove it from this site promptly.
All recordings are taken on a iPhone, not a high-quality recorder. Like my limitation with a camera, I did not have a high-quality camera available, especially when traveling around Chile, nor did I want to bring one into people's homes in case it made a person wary. Please excuse background noise and other issues, which I've tried my best to edit out, but to little avail!
+ Use of media outside of this project
Participants agreed to share media for this project specifically. Out of respect for their contributions, do not download or distribute any audio recordings or photography. While I cannot control this entirely, I have taken measures to make this difficult to do on this site.
If you are interested in sharing these photos or audio recordings as part of another project or publication, please use the above contact form to ask for permission. Note I can only grant this permission in accordance with the forms signed by those included.
+ Concerns about audiovisual media
If you have any concerns about the use of anonymous photography or audio recordings, be it that you are the subject or someone you are concerned about, please do just reach out using the contact form above. I will remove any media of concern as soon as possible. My objective in using audiovisual media is to recognize and celebrate older adult portraits and voices, not to cause any stress or anxiety.
+ Graphics
Created using Canva. I have used only free media available without a subscription, and thus have linked the respective “free media” licensing agreements to which I am subject. I am subject to this agreement as stated on May 10, 2020, when this website launched publicly, and not any agreement thereafter.
Overall, please do reach out via the contact form above with questions or concerns about any of the project’s media. The sole purpose is to tell engAging stories creatively, not to cause any anxiety. No matter what was agreed upon prior, I will happily remove any media that a participant would prefer not to share.