Literacy abilities of veterans with visual
impairment: impact of vision loss and rehabilitation
Gale R. Watson, William De l’Aune, Erica Watkins
Rehabilitation R&D Center of Excellence,
Atlanta VA Medical Center
Objectives: The purpose of this two year
project was to evaluate the literacy skills of older persons who have
age-related visual impairment compared to normally sighted cohorts, and
to understand the relationship of literacy ability to outcomes in vision
rehabilitation.
Methods: Subjects were recruited from the
community in Atlanta, the VA Medical Center in Atlanta and Salisbury,
NC, and community low vision clinics in the Philadelphia area. All subjects
were screened to assure cognition and physical health were within normal
limits. Thirty-five visually impaired older subjects who were scheduled
for low vision services were recruited. They were administered a battery
of assessments of literacy abilities, a measure of quality of life and
a measure of overall functional abilities via self-report immediately
prior to receiving low vision services, immediately after low vision services
and at a six week follow-up in their homes. They were also asked to name
pre-vision loss reading materials and these materials were categorized
as to grade level equivalent. Thirty-five normally sighted elderly persons
were also evaluated. Repeated measures
and correlations used to answer most study questions.
Results: As a group, visually impaired subjects
were able to regain their pre-vision loss basic literacy abilities (grade
level equivalent in comprehension) following vision rehabilitation services.
There were statistically significant gains in all literacy measures from
pre to post-rehabilitation, including accuracy, comprehension and rate
of reading, writing ability, functional health literacy and duration of
reading. Subjects’ increased literacy abilities were related to increases
in quality of life and overall independent functioning. Reading comprehension
ability was predictive for both amount of reading and overall literacy
functioning in the home environment at follow-up. Subjects who were visually
impaired showed lower overall literacy ability after rehabilitation than
normally sighted peers, however.
Conclusions: Older persons who are visually
impaired are able to regain basic literacy abilities that have been lost
due to age-related visual impairment. Vision rehabilitation services can
provide significant gains in literacy abilities for older visually impaired
persons. Strategies should be developed to assure that visually impaired
older persons enjoy similar literacy abilities as their normally sighted
peers.
Funding acknowledgment: This project was
funded via Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and
Development Service grant # C1837-R