Participation in YouTube Creator Program with Culture and Arts Activities and Recovery Experience of People with Mental Disabilities: Focusing on ‘On-tact Together’ Project

Abstract

The purpose of thus study is to understand the experience of mental health service users who participated in ‘the On-tact Together Project’ based on culture and arts activities and YouTube creator courses. Using a general qualitative research method with in-depth interviews with 10 participants, 5 themes, 23 sub-themes, and 82 semantic units were drawn. A total of five themes are 'Stuck at home due to Covid 19', 'Non-face-to-face and face-to-face-Trapped and coming out', 'Institution-Protection and safety zone', 'Connected with others to grow and preparing for future, Managing daily life and hoping to go out into the world through work'. The research results suggest the process to recovery was presented through the experience of the On-Tact Together program with institutional support and social support during the endemic. The results also indicate that the On-tact Together program might open a new space of social inclusion based on YouTube, video conferencing, and SNS communication to the participants, and provide the technology and tools that enable them to act confidently as producers as well as consumers of the space.