Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how middle-aged adults manage their goal pursuits in
the face of visual disability.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional qualitative study.
Vision rehabilitation agency. SUBJECTS: 216 middle-aged adults with
visual impairment.
METHODS: Telephone interviews composed of structured and
open-ended assessments of life goals and the strategies used to cope with
vision-related goal interference. RESULTS: Individuals reported strategies that
reflected the broader domains found in prior research with older adults: internal
resource use, new approach use, technology use, help use, and psychological
self-regulation. The most frequently reported strategy was help use (n = 192),
followed by new approach use (n = 166), internal resource use (n = 162),
technology use (n = 159) and psychological self-regulation (n = 130). Across
domains, the most frequently reported strategies were instrumental informal help,
instrumental formal help, optical aids, and invest effort. Specific strategy
domains emerged as more typical in response to interference with particular types
of goals; for example, help use was reported by a majority for interference with
functional and psychological goals, but only by half for interference with social goals. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings revealed a rich array of strategies used by
middle-aged adults with vision impairment in their daily lives to deal with
vision-related goal interference. Results suggest that rehabilitation services
should consider multiple methods of coping and their goal-related function when
working with middle-aged adults with disabilities.

Langue : ANGLAIS