Spirituality, Religiousness, and the Achievement of Vision Rehabilitation Goals Among Middle-Age and Older Adults

Mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and visual impairment: An exploratory study

“…Therefore, spiritual well-being may foster the emotional strengths of hope and optimism, and may motivate blind and partially sighted people to achieve rehabilitation goals. This lends support to existing theory developed by Brennan and MacMillan (2008), who considered spirituality and the achievement of vision rehabilitation goals. They concluded that a sense of hope engendered through spirituality acts as an important personal resource in rehabilitation settings.…”

“…This led to an unexpected finding: In the wider literature on spiritual well-being and health outcomes, various authors have concluded that a sense of spiritual well-being may indirectly lead to increased physical outcomes. Building upon the findings in the wider literature on mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and various other health conditions (Brennan & MacMillan, 2008), the interviews sought to discover if such findings were also applicable to this group of blind and partially sighted individuals and thus build upon and develop existing theory. Indeed, the findings of this study do support these previous findings: During the interviews, the participants described how their visual impairment had previously affected their everyday functionality and mobility, making them more dependent upon others and provoking various negative emotional responses.…”

“…Visual impairment was therefore perceived as being linked to negative outcomes in terms of physical well-being by the physiological result of reduced sight and decreased mobility and functionality, or when combined with other health conditions. Furthermore, the participants spoke of the negative impact their visual impairment had on their sense of social and emotional well-being, which could in turn lead to further reduced physical functioning and mobility (this ongoing negative ‘reciprocal relationship’ has been discussed widely in the visual impairment literature, e.g., Brennan & MacMillan, 2008; Nosek & Hughes, 2001). However, did mindfulness meditation lead to a direct perceived improvement in the participants’ physical well-being?…”

The contribution of spirituality to the process of retirement

“…Many other studies provide evidence of spirituality to cope with a range of challenging life events, including Alzheimer's disease (Beuscher and Beck 2008); visual impairment (Yampolsky et al 2008); cancer (Bowie et al 2004;Laubmeier et al 2004) and arthritis (Keefe et al 2001). There is also evidence of religious commitment and spirituality influencing adherence to rehabilitation treatment plans in Congestive Health Failure patients (Park et al 2008) and in vision rehabilitation (Brennan and MacMillan 2008).…”

How does a dog attack on a guide dog affect the wellbeing of a guide dog owner?

“…In extreme cases, guide dog owners may not retrain with another guide dog as a consequence of an attack, which has repercussions for them as individuals, their families, and for Guide Dogs as an organisation. Although this previous research touched upon the impact the attacks had on the guide dog owner's wellbeing, these data lacked qualitative depth and description and focused primarily on Aetiology of eye conditions including visual acuity and field (Freeman, Muñoz, Rubin, & West, 2007) Mobility and functionality (Leat & LovieKitchin, 2006) Emotional Thoughts and feelings Connectedness with oneself Resilience (self-esteem, confidence; Zeeshan & Aslam, 2013) Empowerment (autonomy, self-control; Duckett & Pratt, 2007) Positively perceived emotions (happiness, optimism; Horowitz, 2004) Social Connectedness with others (humans and other species) and the external environment Friendships and peer support (Kef, 2002) Employment and education (Bell & Mino, 2013) Human−animal bond and animal-assisted interventions (Aydin et al, 2011) Spiritual Sense of meaning and purpose in life Living in accordance with one's values Connectedness to oneself and others Spirituality as a 'buffer' or coping mechanism for adjusting to or living with visual impairment (Brennan & MacMillan, 2008) Finding meaning in life following a diagnosis of sight loss (Marquès-Brocksopp, 2013) practice regarding how Guide Dogs and other service providers respond to attacks and help to identify appropriate forms of support for the victims.…”