Spatialization of tick risk and prevention. Systemic study of a social representation
The health risk related to tick bites is prevalent in all countries, and France is largely concerned by it, especially in the face of Lyme borreliosis. However, few scientific studies are interested in the representations that the population has of this risk and in particular, the way it has to spatialize it. This is why this study is based on a systemic reading of the theory of social representations and more particularly of socio-spatial representations related to the notion of risk. Short semi-structured interviews using free association were mobilized in France in the areas of Clermont-Ferrand and Combrailles (n =143). The results obtained highlight a system articulating several objects of representation with a predominance of health elements in the representation of tick risk around Lyme disease. However, two other worlds of reference make sense in the representation : animals and nature. There is thus a socio-spatial articulation of tick risk that tends to negatively influence the representation of nature and more specifically of the forest. Prevention strategies must therefore focus more on this spatialized dimension of representation by improving local knowledge of risk and taking into account its evolution related to climate change.