Psychosocial aspects of scuba diving for people with physical disabilities: an occupational science perspective.

PURPOSE: This project investigated the psychosocial benefits of scuba diving for individuals with acquired physical impairments. METHOD: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 3 volunteers recruited from a diving club specializing in training people with disabilities to dive. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data in order to identify the themes recurring in the interviews. RESULTS: The respondents indicated that diving is a challenging, enjoyable activity that enhances their quality of life through enriched social experiences and improved self-concept. Furthermore, subjects stressed that carrying out the activity in a buoyant environment allowed them to feel weightless, thus free from their impairments and equal to non-disabled divers. IMPLICATIONS: The study highlighted the need to carry out further research in this field in order to gain better insight into the impact of scuba diving on the quality of life of people with physical impairments. French But. Ce projet avait pour but d'examiner les avantages psychosociaux de la plonge sous-marine pour les personnes ayant des dficiences physiques acquises. Mthodologie. Des entrevues semi-structures en profondeur ont t ralises auprs de trois participants volontaires recruts dans un club de plonge spcialis dans l'enseignement de la plonge des personnes ayant des dficiences physiques. Des mthodes qualitatives ont t utilises afin d'analyser les donnes, en vue de dterminer les thmes rcurrents dans les entrevues. Rsultats. Les rpondants ont indiqu que la plonge tait une activit agrable, pleine de dfis qui rehaussait leur qualit de vie grce aux riches expriences sociales vcues et l'amlioration de leur concept de soi. Par ailleurs, les sujets ont affirm que le fait de faire une activit en milieu flottant leur permettait d'avoir une impression d'apesanteur, et qu'ils se sentaient librs de leur handicap et gaux face des plongeurs sans handicap. Consquences. 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