Content validity of a home-based person-environment interaction assessment tool for visually impaired adults

Abstract

Abstract-Home-based assessments require in-depth analyses of daily living difficulties. No assessment tool that has been validated with visually impaired adult subjects has allowed such analysis. This research adapted a home-based personenvironment interaction assessment tool designed for persons who are visually impaired. The Model of Competence, an explanatory model of the person-environment relationship, served as the conceptual framework. A qualitative study was conducted with professionals, visually impaired persons, and informal caregivers. Focus groups and semistructured individual interviews were used for data collection. The content and form had to be modified to adapt the assessment tool for use with visually impaired adults. This qualitative study documents the content validity of the Home Assessment of Person-Environment Interaction-Visual Version. The assessment tool will provide vision rehabilitation professionals better screens and explanations of handicap-created situations faced by visually impaired persons at home. By using a structured analysis based on a personenvironment theoretical model, this new assessment tool fills a scientific and clinical gap, optimizes the evaluation process, and documents the intervention plan by providing an understanding of the home context.

Understanding the occupational performance experiences of individuals with low vision

“…Carignan et al (2008) reported that performance and environment are intertwined and cannot be understood separately. Current research lacks thorough verbal descriptions of the occupational performance experiences of persons with low vision in their daily environment.…”

Perspectives on Home Safety: Do Home Safety Assessments Address the Concerns of Clients With Vision Loss?

“…Although several home safety assessments are available, none are designed to evaluate specific issues related to sensory features, including environmental visibility and how the person interacts with his or her personal space. Carignan, Rousseau, Gresset, and Couturier (2008), a research team that developed a French version of a home assessment for people with low vision, emphasized that the issue is not whether people with vision loss can prepare a meal but whether they can prepare the meal in their home with specific environmental support such as lighting, contrast, and organization.…”

A nursing home staff tool for the indoor visual environment: The content validity

“…[23] These tools are specific in addressing one or two components such as light and the use of colour and contrast or the use of technical devices. The items of the EOVI are partially based on the EVOLVE tool of Lewis and Torrington, [24] a checklist for extra care-housing for people with sight loss, and the homebased assessment tool validated by Carignan, Rousseau, and Couturier.…”

“…The items of the EOVI are partially based on the EVOLVE tool of Lewis and Torrington, [24] a checklist for extra care-housing for people with sight loss, and the homebased assessment tool validated by Carignan, Rousseau, and Couturier. [23] In the EOVI-63, "Furnishing & Obstacles" is added as an extra aspect because of the risk of falling. [25] The experts in this study considered these items to be relevant.…”