DOI: 10.18848/2156-8960/cgp/a466 ISSN: 2156-9053

Managing Disease, Daily Life, and Biography

Axel Lion, Claire Perrin, Damien Issanchou
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Physical activity is widely recognized for its beneficial effects on people living with epilepsy, including those with severe forms. However, its practice often remains limited due to perceived risks associated with seizures. In the absence of guaranteed adaptation and safety conditions, opportunities for physical activity tend to be considerably restricted. Consequently, some specialized institutions, such as the Institute La Teppe (ILT), have integrated Adapted Physical Activity (APA) programs into their care provision. This article examines the ways in which APA is mobilized at the ILT, drawing on Corbin and Strauss’s model of illness trajectories to explore its contribution to different types of work. The analysis is based on data from an ethnographic study combining 750 hours of participant observation with forty-six in-depth interviews. The findings show that clinical safety work constitutes a central dimension of APA implementation at the ILT, although it is not its exclusive focus. Other types of work also emerge, particularly those related to self-regulation, comfort, and emotional experience. By highlighting the articulation between these various types of work and the broader lines of work within which they are embedded, this article underscores the multiple contributions of APA to severe epilepsy trajectories.

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