Retombées du cirque social (Cirque du Soleil) en contexte de réadaptation 
sur la participation sociale de jeunes adultes avec déficiences physiques
en transition vers la vie active : étude qualitative
Introduction: Youth with physical disabilities transitioning to adulthood have great difficulties achieving an optimal social participation. This study explores the impact of a social circus program as a new physical rehabilitation approach on the their perceived social participation level of these young adults based on their experience and on their parent’s perspective. Method: Exploratory phenomenological qualitative design. Nine youth with physical disabilities, aged 18 to 25 years were exposed to the program over nine months. Main outcomes: perception of their social participation level documented through pre, mid-term and post semi-structured interviews held with the young adults and one of their parents. Pre-tested interview guide anchored in the Human Development Model-Disability Creation Process-2 (HDM-DCP2) was used. Interview audio content was transcribed, verbatim analysed with Nvivo 9 software through a validated process (reverse-coding) and coding grid (co-coding). Results: Fifty-four interviews were analyzed. The average age of the youth was 20.0 ± 1.4 years; parents’ mean age was 51.0 ± 3.6 years old. According to all, the youths’ social participation was optimized. The impact has been stronger for the communication, mobility, interpersonal relationships, responsibility and community life categories. The social circus program was reported as strengthening their self-perception and social skills that led to a greater self-determination and self-efficacy. Conclusion: This study supports the potential of a social circus program as a new approach in adult physical rehabilitation for this transitioning population. Future research using mixedmethods design study and standardized outcome measures are needed to ensure greater credibility, sustainability, and knowledge transfer of this innovative approach in rehabilitation towards new populations.
Participation Circus Art therapy Participation Young people Physically disabled Transition childhood to adulthood