Contents.
Introduction. 3
Completed research.
Everyone with an eye condition receives timely treatment and, if permanent sight loss occurs, early and appropriate services and support are available and accessible to all. 4
A society in which people with sight loss can fully participate. 7
Ongoing or recently commissioned research.
Everyone in the UK looks after their eyes and their sight. 14
Everyone with an eye condition receives timely treatment and, if permanent sight loss occurs, early and appropriate services and support are available and accessible to all. 16
A society in which people with sight loss can fully participate. 19
Other research news. 21
Vision Research News.
Spring 2015.
Welcome to the Spring 2015 issue of Vision Research News.
Vision Research News brings together social research projects in the field of vision. This collaborative publication provides summaries of the key findings from recent research, information about new projects and other relevant news for those interested in vision research.
While the projects described here have not been commissioned by VISION 2020 UK, are of various sizes and may or may not have been peer reviewed, they are relevant to the VISION 2020 UK Vision Strategy and our aim is to share this work with those who may find it of interest.
As ever, this issue covers a range of work, both completed and ongoing. There are some projects looking at home environments and design for people with visual impairment or sight loss, and habilitation/rehabilitation is another major theme. There are also several projects that are gathering information through surveys or re-evaluations of existing results, demonstrating that additional things can be learned from the same project when viewed from a different perspective.
Vision Research News is put together by members of the VISION 2020 UK Social Research Group and includes representatives from The College of Optometrists, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, The Macular Society, RLSB, RNIB, Sense and Thomas Pocklington Trust. We would like to invite other organisations to become involved.
If you have a completed project, a recently commissioned piece of work of interest to the community or just a piece of relevant news, be that a funding opportunity, a success story worth sharing or an under-used resource worth talking about, then why not let us help you to share it.
If you would like us to include your research or if you have any further comments or feedback about what you would like to see in Vision Research News then get in touch at .
We hope you enjoy this issue of Vision Research News and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Vision Research News Editorial Team.
Completed research.
Outcome 2 - Everyone with an eye condition receives timely treatment and, if permanent sight loss occurs, early and appropriate services and support are available and accessible to all.
Project: Children & Young People with a Vision Impairment (CYPVI) Habilitation (Mobility & Independent Living Skills) research project.
Funded by: Guide Dogs.
Contact details: .
Habilitation training includes: the teaching of early movement skills; sensory, spatial and body concepts; cane training, route learning and independent living skills; and can significantly help a child or young person with a vision impairment to develop the necessary skills to get around and care for themselves safely and independently. However, habilitation training is not currently available for all children and young people in the UK. Guide Dogs and Blind Children UK fervently believe that all children and young people with sight loss in the UK should have access to habilitation training that adheres to the Habilitation Quality Standards as and when they need it – be it in school, the home or the community. With this in mind, Guide Dogs have recently scoped two projects.
Project 1:
A qualitative exploratory study in relation to habilitation services for children and young people with vision impairment in the UK.
Dr. Clare Thetford, University of Liverpool, completed September 2014.
The aim of this project was to explore the accessibility and quality of current habilitation provision through detailed case studies as examples of current practice across the UK in the provision of habilitation services to children and young people with vision impairment aged 0 to 18 years. This work provided 12 context-rich examples, benchmarked against the Quality Standards in the Delivery of Habilitation Training (Quality Standards) (Miller et al., 2011).
Findings:
These case studies provided examples of excellent services and supports available to children and young people with vision impairment and suggested that in some areas at least, there have been considerable improvements in recent years. However, they also highlighted that provision remains wholly inadequate in some areas and that access for some groups is likely to become more difficult in the future as eligibility criteria may be tightened.
Project 2:
Gathering first-hand experiences of habilitation training.
Kat Hogg (Research Associate), Guide Dogs, completed November, 2014.
Secondly, Guide Dogs undertook an in-house research project involving young people with sight loss aged 12 to 25 years, and parents of children with sight loss aged 1 year to 12 years. The project sample was made up of the service users of Blind Children UK, which amounts to almost 4,000 children and young people and their families.
Obtaining children and young peoples’ first-hand experiences of habilitation training allows valuable insight into the quantity and quality of habilitation training in the UK. We also would like to hear from parents/guardians of children and young people with sight loss in order to obtain their experiences and perspectives of habilitation provision. The project involved children and young people with sight loss taking part in a 30 minute telephone interview or completing an online questionnaire, as well as parents/guardians completing a separate online questionnaire.
It is hoped that the information from both pieces of habilitation research will be used to provide further information to the sector regarding the habilitation training needs of young people living with sight loss.
Project: Sight Impairment at age 11: a secondary analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study (Wave 5).
Project lead: John Harris, RLSB.
Collaborators: Sue Keil (RNIB), Cheryl Lloyd, Chris Lord (both NatCen).
Published: September 2014.
Length of project: Five months.
Funded by: RLSB and RNIB.
Report available at: www.rlsb.org.uk and www.rnib.org.uk.
Further information: .
Purpose:
While there is good evidence that infants with vision impairment are at risk of developmental delay, there is relatively little research on the impact of vision impairment on children’s social and psychological progress during the school years. Using data collected from 11 year old children, their parents and teachers, as part of Wave 5 of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), this project compared the responses of vision impaired and sighted children to over 80 questions concerned with wellbeing.
Using data collected on vision and eye health 233 children were identified as having a significant degree of vision impairment from among over 12,000 children in the survey, representing 2% of the total. The questions were organised into seven groups, concerned with: psychological adjustment; wellbeing at school; friends and relationships; leisure and cultural activities; physical activity, and educational aspirations and financial hardship.
Summary findings:
There were significant differences between children with vision impairment and sighted children in relation to 51 out of 83 questions, covering all seven aspects of wellbeing. The differences were most evident for children with vision impairment and an additional special educational need or disability (SEND), but even for those children with vision impairment and no SEND there was evidence of difference across 13 variables, most notably six of the seven questions concerned with financial hardship.
Conclusion:
This study indicates that 11 year old children with even moderate levels of vision impairment are at risk of lower wellbeing compared to their sighted peers, particularly if they have additional special educational need or disability. Further research is needed to clarify the social and psychological processes associated with these elevated risks and the impact of lower wellbeing at age 11 on later development. There also needs to be much more research evidence on interventions that will improve wellbeing among vision impaired children in early and middle childhood.
Background:
This study builds on previous research that looked at the wellbeing of seven year old children with vision impairment using a similar methodology (Harris et al 2012).
Outcome 3 - A society in which people with sight loss can fully participate.
Project: Central heating: a guide to easier controls.
Project lead: Lucy Pullicino, Research Institute for Consumer Affairs (RICA).
Published: February 2014.
Length of project: Seven months.
Funded by: Thomas Pocklington Trust.
Report available at: ‘Choosing Central Heating Controls and Saving Energy’ available here or here.
Further information: .
Purpose:
Undertaken by RICA, a consumer research organisation specialising in the needs of disabled and older people, the aim of this project was to produce a guide to central heating controls for visually impaired people. This is to enable visually impaired people to control their own heating easily and independently.
The project used a combination of market research, expert review, and focus groups and user evaluation involving people with sight loss. Through this, the project assessed which new to the market thermostats and heating controls were easy to use, experiences of shopping for them, and common problems and coping methods.
Summary findings:
The consumer guide produced by RICA revealed a high level of difficulties with the products they tested for users with sight loss. This included those controls marketed as being suitable for people with sight loss. The guide identifies five criteria to look out for when choosing central heating controls and offers advice as to what to look out for with each of them. These are also the criteria against which the tested products were evaluated.
The criteria are:
· labelling.
· dexterity.
· buttons and switches.
· setting up.
· the screen.
The project looked at buying the controls, learning to use them, and adapting them for individual needs. Common problems that were identified with the products tested included unclear labelling, screens that were difficult to see, and buttons and switches that were stiff or awkward to use. The guide offers a score out of five for the controls that were tested, and a description of who they might be suitable for along with an evaluation. In addition, the guide also offers advice on saving money and energy, along with a list of useful resources. RICA found that the key concern of the people with sight loss involved in the project was that they were able to use the controls independently, but few of the products tested enabled this.
Conclusion:
The guide produced by RICA shows a clear lack of central heating controls that are accessible to people with sight loss. This prevents them from being able to independently control their heating, and limits them from being able to save both money and energy. It is hoped that, by providing consumers with the information that they need about buying central heating controls, the industry will come under greater pressure to produce ones that are accessible to people with sight loss.
Background:
This project built on work undertaken by RICA in 2004 that looked at the accessibility of central heating controls for older and disabled consumers.
Project: Best practice in the design of residential environments for people living with dementia and sight loss.
Project lead: Professor Alison Bowes, University of Stirling.
Published: June 2014.
Length of project: 18 months.
Funded by: Thomas Pocklington Trust.
Report available at: Research Findings 42: Good Practice in the Design of Homes and Living Spaces for People with Dementia and Sight Loss’ and the accompanying Good Practice Guide are available here, and the guidelines are also available here.
Further information: .
Purpose:
Most design guidance focuses on either dementia or sight loss, leaving a lack of information around the two together. This project therefore sought to produce new, evidence-based guidance that would assist individuals and organisations to create environments that are suitable for people living with both dementia and sight loss.
In order to produce these guidelines, the research team undertook a literature review, consulted people with dementia and sight loss, and those who care for them, and interviewed stakeholders. This was to ensure that the guidance produced would be useful for all three groups. Once drafted, the guidelines were refined through feedback from a survey.
Summary findings:
The literature review revealed that there was not only a division in existing literature between those guides dealing with dementia and those with sight loss, but between those for care homes and those for private residences. More importantly, those guides focusing on sight loss stressed the importance of choice and independence, while those focusing on dementia stressed the importance of containment and safety. As such, a key aim for this project when producing new guidelines was to place at their centre the importance of the individual in order to encourage and maintain independence for those with both sight loss and dementia.
The resulting guidelines are designed to ensure that they are useful for both individuals and professionals, and can be applied to either a private residence or a care home environment. They are divided up into seven key areas:
· colour and contrast.
· lighting.
· fixtures and fittings.
· kitchens.
· bathrooms.
· entrances and exits.
· outdoor spaces.
In each section, the guidelines present a series of tips, while also flagging up potential areas of difficulty. These include areas of design that present conflicting challenges for dementia and sight loss, those in which the preferences of the individual are crucial, and issues that are more relevant to either a private or care home setting.
Background:
Looking at dementia and visual impairment together is, in an aging population, increasingly important. At the moment, one in five people over the age of 75 in the UK are living with sight loss, a figure that rises to one in two people over the age of 90. Meanwhile, one in 14 people over the age of 65 are living with dementia, rising to 1 in 6 people over the age of 80 in the UK.