WhatsApp as a territory and an intervention tool in social occupational therapy

Abstract

With the recent increase in migration in France, people in situation of social vulnerability are often isolated and with nearly or no social support networks, notably due to the asylum application administrative procedures, reception conditions, and lack of information and opportunity to access public places. The PRACTS program intervenes in this situation aiming to respond to the need of building social support networks and promote social participation for this population. Thus, a WhatsApp group was created to establish contact with people and inform them about the planned activities. From this experience, a hypothesis was formulated: this device favors the emergence of a dynamic that goes beyond the simple sharing of information. The aim is to understand whether and how this platform constitutes a new territory and can be used as an intervention tool in social occupational therapy. To this end, a sample of conversations and photos extracted from this WhatsApp group was analyzed. The analysis shows six types of messages, in addition to information, which suggest that the group has become a territory shared by professionals and users and can be used as an intervention tool to strengthen the feeling of belonging to a group and promote social participation, both in virtual and real spaces. Some limitations to this device are observed, as well as the interest in constant reflection to ensure the necessary practical and ethical adaptations of the professionals to the new realities and needs of their users.