Abstract

SANDOVAL POVEDA, Alicia María  and  MADRIZ BERMUDEZ, Linda María. Virtual follow-up strategies in a Theatre Group in times of Social Distancing. Innovaciones Educativas [online]. 2020, vol.22, suppl.1, pp.200-212. ISSN 2215-4132.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22458/ie.v22iespecial.3215.

The pandemic’s situation due to the COVID-19 virus and subsequently implemented measures of social distancing to prevent the spread, and the collapse of the Health Services became an obstacle for in-person teamwork such as the one carried out by the Group of Inclusive Theatre: Rompecabezas. The core of this project is the development of social skills for people with disabilities. Therefore, this group has recently been trying to find in the confines of virtuality an emotional accompaniment arena in order to cope with the anxiety produced by this situation.

This article displays both the work tools and the strategies developed for the purpose above. These tools and strategies have been assessed by the group’s participants through perception surveys during a week of digital synchronic sessions. Our methods were also assessed through conversations on the group’s Whatsapp chat for four months- the fifteen permanent members of the group participated. A subjective measure of anxiety shows how the anxiety of the participants has increased over the weeks. When evaluating the virtual support tools applied, the appreciation has been positive for the virtual meetings and the chat group. Besides, participants and their families have identified the virtual arena as a helpful tool for talking about their emotions and learning how to cope with the pandemic. Therefore, the virtual follow-up seems to be a viable and functional option in pandemic times for the population with disabilities.

Keywords : people with disabilities; pandemic; emotional accompaniment; social distancing; virtual follow-up; COVID-19.

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