Stress Associated with Transportation: A Survey of Persons with Visual Impairments

Abstract

Introduction This study evaluated transportation-related stress and factors predicting stress among persons with visual impairments. Methods Participants with visual impairments completed electronic surveys rating their stress levels experienced when completing various walking and public transportation tasks. They also indicated activities they avoided due to transportation stress. Results Higher stress was reported for navigating unfamiliar bus routes, walking in urban areas without sidewalks, and walking in unfamiliar places. Significant predictors of walking stress were age, years since vision loss, dog guide use, physical limitations, and frequency of public transportation use. Significant predictors of public transportation stress were age, orientation and mobility (O&M) training, physical limitations, and frequency of public transportation use. Most-avoided activities due to transportation-related stress were entertainment or leisure activities and visiting family and friends. Discussion Unfamiliar situations and unpredictable environments were associated with higher stress. Frequent public transportation use and longer time since vision loss predicted lower stress, which indicates that increased and varied experiences may affect transportation-related stress. Older persons and persons with physical limitations had more transportation-related stress. Social activities, which are important in managing stress, were most frequently avoided due to transportation stress. Implications for practitioners O&M instructors should keep in mind that providing varied experiences and longer training is indicated for persons with high stress, particularly for older persons, and those with recent vision loss or physical limitations. Everyone involved in the rehabilitation process should remember that building relationships with consumers, encouraging public transportation use, participating in support groups, and overcoming travel barriers for social activities may help reduce transportation stress.

The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review

“…This variation in assessment times makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions on conflicting findings. Further, the number of years spent with the assistance dog at the time of surveying was unknown for half of the cross-sectional studies [29,37,40,[42][43][44][45]. Therefore, in the cases where positive outcomes were reported in these studies, it is unknown what amount of time with an assistance dog the finding was associated with (and therefore difficult to compare to findings from other studies).…”

Including Children with Visual Impairments in the Early Childhood Classroom

“…The area of orientation and mobility (O&M) is an important component of success within school and community settings, particularly for students with vision loss [30,31]. Orientation and mobility (O&M), or the ability to move about in the home and community, is a specialized training designed to facilitate the ability of persons with visual impairments to perform independent travel skills [30].…”

“…The area of orientation and mobility (O&M) is an important component of success within school and community settings, particularly for students with vision loss [30,31]. Orientation and mobility (O&M), or the ability to move about in the home and community, is a specialized training designed to facilitate the ability of persons with visual impairments to perform independent travel skills [30]. Orientation and mobility (O&M) training can begin within early intervention to address early body movements, identification of sound sources-including voices, turning toward sounds, and first movements with scooting, crawling, and, eventually, walking.…”

Analyzing Stress Situations for Blind People

“…The study of Crudden et al [20] has analysed stress caused by navigation and walking in public transportations. Experiments were conducted on visual impaired participants, while rating their stress levels experienced when completing different walking and navigation tasks in public transportation.…”

“…Older-age and self-reported physical limitations were associated with higher walking and public transportation stress, more frequent transportation use per month was associated with lower stress levels, dog guide use predicted lower stress level. Participants also indicated activities they avoided due to transportation stress such as entertainment, visiting friends and family [20].…”