Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

“Why Would I Want To Go Out?”: Age-Related Vision Loss And Social Participation, Debbie Rudman, Deborah Gold, Colleen Mcgrath, Biljana Zuvela, Marlee Spafford, Rebecca Renwick

Occupational Therapy Publications

Social participation, a key determinant of healthy aging, is often negatively impacted by age-related vision loss (ARVL). This grounded theory study aimed to understand social participation as a process negotiated in everyday life by older adults with ARVL. Interviews, audio diaries, and life-space maps were used to collect data with 21 older adults in two Ontario cities. Inductive data analysis resulted in a transactional model of the process of negotiating social participation in context. This model depicts how environmental features and resources, skills and abilities, and risks and vulnerabilities transacted with values and priorities to affect if and how social …