Christine Corcoran

The role of the WHO ICF as a framework to interpret barriers and to inclusion: visually impaired people’s views and experiences of personal computers

This article describes how the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF), 2001, was used as a framework for the design of the interview schedule used in the Network 1000 project. It is argued that the ICF offers a vocabulary to enable visually impaired participants to describe their lives in terms of participation and potential barriers to social inclusion. The article presents interview data from 960 visually impaired people who were surveyed about their use of computers (amongst other things). Results show that computer use is clearly linked with age, with older visually impaired people far less likely to use computers. It is argued that, while technology may offer many benefits (including access to information and a route into employment), many visually impaired people do not see the relevance of ICT, perceive individually based barriers to the use of ICT (e.g. their visual impairment), and perceive socially based barriers to the use of ICT (e.g. cost, availability and accessibility of technology, and issues related to training). Importantly, it appears that different barriers may be more common amongst different groups.

Network 1000: the changing needs and circumstances of visually-impaired people: project overview

This article outlines the progress of a newly-commissioned three year study known as Network 1000. It is a three-year project funded through the Community Fund and is being carried out by the University of Birmingham on behalf of Vision 2020. The project’s aim is to create a panel survey of 1000 visually-impaired people to be interviewed regularly over the three-year period, and hopefully beyond, enabling their changing needs and circumstances to be monitored over time. The findings will be used to influence policy-makers and service-providers, and will also be disseminated to a wider audience of people with an interest in visual impairment. Building on the longitudinal nature of the project enables the project team to develop a methodology that is both democratic and inclusive. The underlying research philosophy is one of inclusion and participation and in this respect the people this research affects the most - those who are visually impaired - are involved in all stages of the research process. People with a visual impairment have played a key role in generating the data and the themes that will drive the construction of the main survey instrument. The article is divided into five sections that describe the progress of the project to date: first, it briefly outlines the background to the project; second, it describes the underlying philosophy behind the democratic approach to inclusion and participant involvement; third, it presents preliminary results from generative interviews; fourth, it discusses how the team will recruit participants to the project with particular reference to the two-stage sample design that has been adopted; and finally, it describes how this two-stage approach will be operationalized. The article concludes by outlining the next phase of the project and with a short reflection on the research process to date.

Evaluating the use of the ICF as a framework for interviewing people with a visual impairment about their mobility and travel

Large-scale social surveys of visually impaired people often explore participants’ mobility and travel behaviour. What is methodologically more challenging is gathering participant-centred data in relation to their own interpretation of the barriers they face. Findings from a national survey of visually impaired people are presented in this article (N = 960, probability sample drawn from the British registers of blind and partially sighted people). The research made use of the World Health Organisation ‘International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health’ (ICF) to develop an interview schedule in relation to visually impaired people’s participation in mobility and travel. Results found that participants identified a range of barriers and enablers to greater mobility which included individually-based explanations (e.g. difficulties with their eye sight) and socially-based explanations (e.g. inadequate public transport systems). Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who particularly focused upon individually-based barriers had more severe visual impairment, worried most about their vision, and had most recently lost their sight. The findings highlight how professionals and family must be cautious not to reinforce visually impaired people’s perceptions of individual barriers and any associated sense of helplessness. The use of the ICF model also provided an innovative approach to survey-based studies: the methods adopted encouraged participants to identify issues they thought were important, while still generating findings which can be statistically generalised.

Individual's recollections of their experiences in eye clinics and understanding of their eye condition: results from a survey of visually impaired people in Britain

Background/aims:  Network 1000 is a UK‐based panel survey of a representative sample of adults with registered visual impairment, with the aim of gathering information about people’s opinions and circumstances.

Editorial -Special Issue on Social Inclusion and Visual Impairment

Tackling social exclusion and promoting social inclusion has been a major item on the current UK government’s social policy agenda. Increasing awareness that social exclusion has a major impact on people’s life chances has prompted a range of government projects and initiatives targeting crime, transport and employment (SEU, 2006). However, whilst these initiatives are to be commended, the causes of social exclusion and the mechanisms for promoting social inclusion are complex. Indeed, recent research has suggested that there is no single cause of social exclusion, rather that exclusion is multi-faceted and is a process of interrelated factors that, over time, produce people and places that are excluded from mainstream society (e.g. Webster, Simpson, MacDonald, Abbas, Creslik, Shildrick and Simpson, 2004). However, there is more to exclusion than the impact of complex social processes; as research and government policy has recognized, some people are more at risk than others (SEU, 2001).

Network 1000 Scotland: A report on the opinions and circumstances of blind and partially sighted people in Scotland

The report provides an insight into the views, experiences and needs of blind and partially sighted people in Scotland, helping to inform Scottish policy. Direct interviews with 165 blind and partially sighted people in Scotland were undertaken by telephone. The interviews took place as part of a UK-wide data collection exercise in 2006 (Douglas et al., 2006). A range of findings were produced: 52 per cent of the population lived alone; 10 per cent of the population did not know the name of their eye condition; only 25 per cent of the working-age population were in employment; 70 per cent of the population reported having long-term health problems in addition to their visual impairment; and 40 per cent of the population said they would like to leave home more often. The report highlights for the first time the situation facing registered blind and partially sighted people in Scotland at the beginning of the 21st century.