Social representations and therapeutic education: theoretical-practical questions

Abstract

We introduce the contribution of social psychology of health to the reflection on the therapeutic education of adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus via a socio-representational approach. Chronic illnesses during adolescence pose specific challenges for health care, and the psychosocial perspective allows one to understand the practice of evaluating and consolidating patient’s abilities, contextualizing therapeutic education as a set of socio-symbolic relations between the social actors involved in such scenario. This approach can be used both as a theoreticalmethodological and practical instrument to achieve a psychosocial diagnosis and intervention planning. A program of three studies conducted in France with diabetic adolescents, their families and professionals, illustrates contemporary issues and challenges in the field of therapeutic education. This study is focused on the meanings mobilized by the social actors to determine intervention strategies adapted to the psychosocial tensions that may arise in health care. We emphasize the importance of the socio-identity and ideological dynamics arising from the social and cultural context of the social actors engaged in therapeutic education.