“Me and the Others”: Interest, Limitations and Perspectives of a Pediatric Tool for Self-determination of Goals related to Social Skills
Background. Socialization is crucial for well-being and development. Challenges faced by some children in social skills highlight a need for support. If occupational therapy provides a holistic approach to promote social participation, specific tools to explore this field remain limited. “Me and the others”, a new tool for eliciting goals that engage social skills, aims to address this gap and promote person-centred practice. Objective. To investigate the extent to which the use of “Me and the Others” can enhance the exploration of the social skills field in the daily practice of occupational therapists. Materials and methods. This study uses a mixed-method design; an online questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data, and qualitative data was gathered through focus groups conducted with occupational therapists. Results. The thirty-three responses to the online questionnaire allowed key themes to emerge. The qualitative data collected from ten occupational therapists provided further depth. Four themes emerged, describing the need for a specific tool in the field of social skills, the exploration of motivations for using “Me and the others”, the obstacles to its use, as well as its resources and perspectives for development. Conclusion. If “Me and the others” provides a visual support to promote the exploration of social skills, some challenges limit its practical use. Adjustments have been made to improve its usability. The implications for future research are discussed.