Addressing the vision challenges of residents at a retirement community: collaborative research with a community partner

Staff members at a community retirement village were concerned about the demise of a support group for residents with vision loss, and requested help developing effective services for residents with vision challenges. This study explored past barriers to support group participation, as they were perceived by residents, family members, and employees. The community partner worked collaboratively with the researcher in all phases of the study. Questionnaires were designed to elicit demographic data, diagnosed vision problems, level of adjustment to vision loss, well-being, and motivation for attending institutional programs about vision challenges. Residents responded to standardized vision and depression scales; qualitative questions were posed to all 3 groups concerning motivations for resident participation in program activities. Results indicated that, although many residents had diagnosed vision conditions, they were, in general, coping well with vision loss and did not report depressive symptoms. Participants considered ongoing personal contact and follow-up, a group design that offered the choice of educational presentations and/or process discussions, and individualized assistance with practical challenges to be critical to an effective program. This case study, utilizing a collaborative research process, generated requests for expanded social work services and an increased valuing of the social work role.