Visual impairment, coping strategies and impact on daily life: a qualitative study among working-age UK ex-service personnel

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Estelle M. Malcolm¹  Sharon A. M. Stevelink¹  Nicola T. Fear² 

[1] King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, SE5 9RJ, London, United Kingdom;King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, SE5 9RJ, London, United Kingdom;Academic Department of Military Mental Health, King’s College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, SE5 9RJ, London, United Kingdom;

关键词: Blindness;    Coping;    Disability;    Health-related quality of life;    Military;    Well-being;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-2455-1

 received in 2014-10-27, accepted in 2015-10-26,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSustaining a visual impairment may have a substantial impact on various life domains such as work, interpersonal relations, mobility and social and mental well-being. How to adjust to the loss of vision and its consequences might be a challenge for the visually impaired person. The purpose of the current study was to explore how younger male ex-Service personnel cope with becoming visually impaired and how this affects their daily life.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with 30 visually impaired male ex-Service personnel, all under the age of 55, were conducted. All participants are members of the charity organisation Blind Veterans UK. Interviews were analysed thematically.ResultsYounger ex-Service personnel applied a number of different strategies to overcome their loss of vision and its associated consequences. Coping strategies varied from learning new skills, goal setting, integrating the use of low vision aids in their daily routine, to social withdrawal and substance misuse. Vision loss affected on all aspects of daily life and ex-Service personnel experienced an on-going struggle to accept and adjust to becoming visually impaired.ConclusionsHealth care professionals, family and friends of the person with the visual impairment need to be aware that coping with a visual impairment is a continuous struggle; even after a considerable amount of time has passed, needs for emotional, social, practical and physical support may still be present.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Stevelink et al. 2015