The systems of support for people with a visual impairment in the United Kingdom are complex and can be difficult to access, involving input from a range of health and social care services. In this article, we report qualitative findings from research looking at people’s experiences of accessing health and social care services. These highlight the inconsistencies and variability in existing systems of support for people with a visual impairment, and show that access to services is largely dependent on the agency and initiative of individual service users in establishing networks of support for themselves. This means that those who are less able to do this may find themselves without the support necessary to maintain or improve their quality of life. We argue that health and social care agencies need to be more proactive in addressing the support needs of people with a visual impairment beyond the point of initial diagnosis or registration.
AlmaM. A.Van der MeiS. F.Melis-DankersB. J. M.Van TilburgT. G.GroothoffJ. W.SuurmeijerT. P. B. M. (2011). Participation of the elderly after vision loss. Disability and Rehabilitation, 33, 63–72.
2.
ArmstrongD.GoslingA.WeinmanJ.MarteauT. (1997). The place of inter-rater reliability in qualitative research: An empirical study. Sociology, 31, 597–606.
3.
BarryR. J.MurrayP. I. (2005). Unregistered visual impairment: Is registration a failing system?British Journal of Ophthalmology, 89, 995–998.
4.
BeverleyC. A.BathP. A.BarberR. (2011). Health and social care information for visually-impaired people. Aslib Proceedings, 63, 256–274.
5.
BoyceT. (2012). The certification and registration processes: Stages, barriers and delays. London, England: Royal National Institute of Blind People.
BurmediD.BeckerS.HeylV.WahlH. W.HimmelsbachI. (2002b). Emotional and social consequences of age-related low vision. Visual Impairment Research, 4, 47–71.
8.
ChouK. L. (2008). Combined effect of vision and hearing impairment on depression in older adults: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Journal of Affective Disorders, 106, 191–196.
9.
ConwayM. L.Gillespie-GalleryH. C.YangY. C.ReddyG.MathewsJ.SubramanianA. (2012). Investigating Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs) using quality of life questionnaires?Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 53, Article 4406.
10.
DickinsonC.LinckP.Tudor-EdwardsR.BinnsA.BunceC.HarperR.. . . MargrainT. (2011). A profile of low vision services in England: The Low Vision Service Model Evaluation (LOVSME) project. Eye, 25, 829–831.
11.
DouglasG.PaveyS.CorcoranC. (2008). Network 1000. Access to information, services and support for people with visual impairment. Birmingham, UK: Vision 2020 UK, University of Birmingham.
12.
EvansJ. (2005). Prevalence, causes and impact of sight loss in older people in Britain. London, England: Thomas Pocklington Trust.
13.
EvansJ.FletcherA.WormaldR. (2007). Depression and anxiety in visually impaired older people. Ophthalmology, 114, 283–288.
14.
HodgeS.BarrW.BowenL.LeevenM.KnoxP. (2013). Exploring the role of an emotional support and counselling service for people with visual impairments. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 31, 5–19.
15.
HodgeS.KnoxP.RobinsonJ.ThetfordC. (2011). The changing needs of people with sight loss: a follow-up study (Report submitted to Thomas Pocklington Trust). Liverpool, UK: Health and Community Care Research Unit, University of Liverpool.
16.
HowseK.EbrahimS.Gooberman-HillR. (2004). Help-avoidance: Why older people do not always seek help. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 14, 63–70.
17.
LegoodR.ScuffhamP.CryerC. (2002). Are we blind to injuries in the visually impaired? A review of the literature. Injury Prevention, 8, 155–160.
18.
LipskyM. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public service (30th Anniversary ed.). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
19.
MitchellJ.BradleyC. (2006). Quality of life in age-related macular degeneration: A review of the literature. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 4, Article 97.
20.
National Statistics. (2010). Registered blind and partially sighted persons, Scotland 2010. Edinburgh, UK: Scottish Government.
21.
National Statistics. (2012). Local authority registers of people with disabilities, Wales, 31 March 2012. Cardiff, UK: Welsh Government.
22.
NHS Eye Care Services Programme. (2007). Recommended standards for low vision services: Outcomes from the Low Vision Working Group. London: NHS Eye Care Services Programme and RNIB.
23.
NHS Information Centre. (2011). Registered blind and partially sighted people – Year ending 31 March 2011, in England. London, England: The Health and Social Care Information Centre.
24.
NymanS.GosneyM.VictorC. (2010). Psychosocial impact of visual impairment in working-age adults. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 94, 1427–1431.
25.
PercivalJ. (2003). Meeting the needs of older people with visual impairment: Social care or social exclusion? (Occasional Paper Number 2). London, England: Thomas Pocklington Trust.
Royal National Institute of Blind People. (2015a). Factsheet: Register of hospitals in the UK with eye clinic support. Retrieved from http://www.rnib.org.uk/ecloinformation
SpencerL.RitchieJ.O’ConnorW. (2003). Carrying out qualitative analysis. In RitchieJ.LewisJ. (Eds.), Qualitative research practice – A guide for social science students and researchers, pp. 219-262. London, England: SAGE.
31.
SubramanianA.ConwayM.Gillespie-GalleryH. (2011). The role of Eye Clinic Liaison Officers. London, England: City University.
32.
SubramanianA.Gillespie GalleryH.ConwayM. L. (2012). The role of the Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) – A diary study. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 53, Article 4407.
33.
ThetfordC.RobinsonJ.KnoxP.MehtaJ.WongD. (2009). The changing needs of people with sight loss (Occasional Paper Number 17). London, England: Thomas Pocklington Trust.
34.
ThetfordC.RobinsonJ.KnoxP.MehtaJ.WongD. (2011). Long-term access to support for people with sight loss. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 29, 46–59.
35.
ThetfordC.RobinsonJ.MehtaJ.KnoxP.WongD. (2008). Final report for Thomas Pocklington Trust: The changing needs of people with sight loss. Liverpool, UK: Health and Community Care Research Unit, University of Liverpool.
36.
ThurstonM.ThurstonA.McLeodJ. (2010). Socio-emotional effects of the transition from sight to blindness. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 28, 90–112.
37.
VerstratenP.BrinkmannW.StevensN.SchoutenJ. (2005). Loneliness, adaptation to visual impairment, social support and depression among visually impaired elderly. International Congress Series, 1282, 317–321.
38.
WengrafT. (2001). Qualitative research interviewing. London, England: SAGE.
39.
WengrafT. (2005). The Biographic-Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) short guide version 3.1. Unpublished manuscript.
