French Support and Work Assistance Establishment and Social and Professional Integration of Workers With Disabilities in Rural Areas. The Example of Habert (Savoie, France)

Abstract

This article proposes to address the issue of inclusion through work and in a rural environment of people with mental disabilities and/or intellectual disabilities. Through the example of a French support and work assistance establishment, the support and work assistance establishment Le Habert, located in a small rural and mountainous village in the Alps and offering people with disabilities to work on a farm, the article will first address the importance of work as a means for people to regain their dignity. Between the feeling of usefulness and pride in participating in the operation of one territory, by being fully involved in the process of producing and adding value to a product, accompanying the farm allows, apart from these therapeutic virtues, a real professional inclusion. Living in houses or apartments in the surrounding villages, the accommodation, allowing contact between people with disabilities and local inhabitants is also a vector of social inclusion. However, while the rural setting can be an asset for inclusion because of the professional and social opportunities, the isolation and geographical inaccessibility of the rural mountainous environment can be an obstacle for people who do not necessarily have the means to be mobile. By offering personalised support for mobility, the institution transforms geographical exclusion into an asset for professional, social and spatial inclusion.

Keywords

• France
• disability
• support and work assistance establishment
• social and professional inclusion
• rural area