“We now fly”: Perspectives of adults who are blind with guide dogs trained for running

Abstract

Individuals with visual impairments lead less active lifestyles than their sighted counterparts. Reduced physical activity in this population can be attributed to a lack of opportunities combined with fewer intervention opportunities, less experience in sport and recreational activities, and decreased perceived motor competence. Furthermore, individuals with visual impairments report lower values in all domains of quality of life when compared with their sighted counterparts. Therefore, it is imperative that opportunities are developed to increase self-determination leading to higher levels of physical activity for individuals with visual impairments. Running is a popular physical activity for active individuals; however, there are many barriers to running for individuals with visual impairments. To increase these opportunities, a school for guide dogs has recently started training guide dogs to run. The purpose of this study was to determine the perspectives of adults with visual impairments on their experiences running with trained running guide dogs. Ten adults who are blind were interviewed on phone by two researchers. Qualitative research questions were validated by two adults who are blind, three specialists in adapted physical education, and one guide dog trainer. Interviews were transcribed, and themes were extracted by three of the authors. The four major themes that emerged from this research study were (1) running guide dogs’ contribution to mental and physical health, (2) independence as a result of running with a guide dog, (3) The dog is key to increased/improved running, and (4) barriers and supporters to running. Our results indicate that there are numerous positive effects that a running guide dog has on the health, independence, and quality of life of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The results indicated that making running guide dogs available could provide increased self-determination for adults who choose to take advantage of this program leading to a healthier lifestyle.

How and why we run

“…Safety represents another primary challenge faced by BVI individuals as their need for assistance from others (noted above) leads to an exogenous reliance for the identification of potential safety issues [31]. This introduces the importance of trust between the user and the assistant [17]. The BVI individual must trust the judgement of the assistant to have their safety as a top priority.…”

“…While convenient, personalized, and highly effective, the implementation of a human guide can be time consuming and difficult. Runners expressed many difficulties with scheduling human guides and the lack of reliability of many human guides [17]. To obtain an effective guide, hours of training are required to establish effective communication techniques and trust.…”

“…Unlike human guides, guide dog use does not have to rely on coordinating times when the guide and runner are both available, as a guide dog is theoretically on-call 24 hours a day/seven days a week. While not currently commonly used to support running, guide dogs can theoretically be trained to assist BVI individuals during a running event, although one concern for runners is the tactile feedback when handling the dog's harness, as different hand movements can be interpreted as different corrective cues by the dog [17]. Additionally, while dogs were found useful for obstacle avoidance (as opposed to obstacle detection), they may require correction if distracted in crowds [17].…”

“…While not currently commonly used to support running, guide dogs can theoretically be trained to assist BVI individuals during a running event, although one concern for runners is the tactile feedback when handling the dog's harness, as different hand movements can be interpreted as different corrective cues by the dog [17]. Additionally, while dogs were found useful for obstacle avoidance (as opposed to obstacle detection), they may require correction if distracted in crowds [17]. This may in turn impact the runner's momentum, as they may need to slow down or stop to identify ways to address the distraction.…”

The effectiveness of orientation and mobility training on the quality of life for students who are blind in Iran

“…Rehabilitation services can improve performance, increase participation in activities, and improve quality of life in people who are blind; however, there is not much information about psychological well-being, physical health, and quality of life among these people (Chavda et al, 2014). Decreased physical activity in people who are blind can be due to less experience in mobility skills, leisure time skills, and reduced perceived motor ability (Lieberman et al, 2019).…”