Abstract
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.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2455-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Sustaining a visual impairment may have a substantial impact on various life domains such as work, interpersonal relations, mobility and social and mental well-being
We explored how ex-Service men adjust to their loss of vision, which coping strategies they use and how their loss of vision and its consequences has impacted on their daily life
We used this model as an example in the introduction to describe how people may deal with facing a significant loss, such as sustaining a visual impairment
Summary
Sustaining a visual impairment may have a substantial impact on various life domains such as work, interpersonal relations, mobility and social and mental well-being. A study reviewing the prevalence of mental health problems among (ex-) service personnel with an irreversible impairment (e.g. hearing, vision, but predominantly physical) concluded that common mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, psychological distress and depression, were frequently reported, but levels varied widely across study populations. These levels appeared to be higher than found in comparable samples of civilian and military populations without an impairment [13]
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