Presentation Information
[P-18-03]Attempts to prevent social withdrawal through the use of school support volunteers
*Shizuka Suzuki, Masafumi Ohnishi, Aiko Hirosawa, Kaori Kawamura (University of Fukui(Japan))
Keywords:
Social functioning scale,Community-based school support volunteers,Preventive measures against social withdrawal
Currently, social withdrawal has become a major social problem, it is not uncommon for underlying diseases such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders to exist in addition to developmental disorders in the background. It is said that there are a certain number of people who have experienced truancy while they are in school. Therefore, as part of the "prevention of social withdrawal", there is an urgent need to identify "people who may be socially withdrawn" from school age and continue to support the transition in the community. Educational institutions have been monitoring the number of truant children and students at the national level for many years, and regional trends have also been analyzed. However, there are very few reports that discuss the clinical profile of individual truant children and students, particularly the degree of "social participation" closely related to social withdrawal, and assess their "social functioning" from school age, with a focus on early prevention. In this study, we evaluated the degree of social participation using the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) on children and students who were absent from school before and after the start of school support volunteer activities(Life-Partner Program: LPP in University of Fukui), and measured its effectiveness. Data analysis targeted 17 truant students were utilizing LPP volunteers during the 2023 academic year. Surveys were conducted with staff from educational counseling institutions and parents who know truant students involved with LP well. As a result, it was suggested that the participation of school support volunteers in the targeted students may increase the number of opportunities to visit educational counseling institutions outside the school, increase the time spent on social activities and communication with people other than family members, and improve the level of social participation.