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Introduction: The pilot study reported here determined the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary group rehabilitation program, Visually Impaired Elderly Persons Participating (VIPP), on psychosocial functioning. Methods: The single-group pretest-posttest pilot study included 29 persons with visual impairments (aged 55 and older) who were referred to a low-vision rehabilitation center. The VIPP intervention (20 weekly meetings) consisted of four components (practical training; education, social interaction, counseling, and training in problem-solving skills; individual and group goal setting; and a home-based exercise program). Psychosocial adaptation to vision loss, helplessness, self-efficacy, mental health, and fear of falling were used as indicators of psychosocial functioning and were assessed at the baseline, halfway, immediately after completion of the intervention, and at the six-month follow-up. Results: Directly after the intervention, the participants' adaptation to vision loss (ES = 0.57), self-efficacy (ES = 0.50), and mental health (ES = 0.39) improved compared to the baseline. Moreover, helplessness and a generic and vision-specific fear of falling decreased (ES = 0.26, ES = 0.20, and ES = 0.24, respectively). The six-month follow-up measure indicated improved adaptation to vision loss (ES = 0.54), a lesser feeling of helplessness (ES = 0.53), better mental health (ES = 0.22), and a lesser vision-specific fear of falling (ES = 0.27). In contrast, a decrease in self-efficacy (ES = 0.14) and an increase in the generic fear of falling (ES = 0.18) were found. Discussion: The tentative conclusion of this small-scale pilot study is that the VIPP program benefits psychosocial functioning in both the short and long term. Implications for practitioners: The study showed that low-vision rehabilitation centers could implement multidisciplinary group rehabilitation programs, such as VIPP, to improve the psychosocial functioning of elderly people who are visually impaired. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Purpose: This study aims to identify the most important factors that influence the independent bicycle use of visually impaired people in the Netherlands. Materials and methods: Both visually impaired people and professionals participated in a two-round online Delphi study (n = 42). In Round 1 the participants identified the factors which they ranked by relevance in Round 2. Results: The participants prioritised environmental factors related to the traffic situation, the characteristics of the infrastructure, and weather and light conditions (Kendall's W = 0.66). They indicated that the most influencing personal factors are related to personality, traffic experience, and personal background (W = 0.58). Glaucoma was ranked as the most relevant ophthalmic condition (W = 0.74), while glare was regarded as the most important factor with respect to the visual functions (W = 0.78). Conclusions: The factors provided by this study can be used to optimise the independent cycling mobility of visually impaired people. More research is needed to investigate, both, how and to what extent the mentioned factors influence the cycling behaviour. The results of this study can be used to set priorities during the rehabilitation and training of visually impaired people who wish to cycle independently. Visually impaired cyclists may compensate for the consequences of their visual impairments by taking alternative routes that suit their individual abilities and limitations. Since gaining and maintaining self-confidence is important for independent cycling with a visual impairment, practitioners such as mobility trainers should not only focus on cycling-related skills and abilities, but also aim to improve the self-confidence of visually impaired people who wish to cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to investigate the effect of a physical rest-frame, habituation and age on simulator sickness in an advanced mobility scooter driving simulator. Twenty-six young and 34 older adults completed a total of 12 drives in an advanced mobility scooter driving simulator over two visits. A 2x2 crossover design was used to measure the effect of a rest frame that was added to the driving simulator on either the first or second visit. The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire was used to measure simulator sickness symptoms. A significant decrease in simulator sickness was observed between the first and the second visit. Older adults reported more severe simulator sickness symptoms compared to younger participants. No effect of rest-frame could be found. Habituation appears to be the most effective method to reduce simulator sickness in an advanced mobility scooter driving simulator. More research is needed to investigate simulator sickness in patient groups. Practitioner summary: Experiencing simulator sickness is a major problem across all types of simulators. The present experiment investigated the effect of a rest-frame, habituation and age on developing simulator sickness symptoms in an advanced mobility scooter driving simulator. Habituation appeared to be the most effective method to reduce simulator sickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate how well visually impaired individuals can learn to use mobility scooters and which parts of the driving task deserve special attention.Materials and methods: A mobility scooter driving skill test was developed to compare driving skills (e.g. reverse driving, turning) between 48 visually impaired (very low visual acuity = 14, low visual acuity = 10, peripheral field defects = 11, multiple visual impairments = 13) and 37 normal-sighted controls without any prior experience with mobility scooters. Performance on this test was rated on a three-point scale. Furthermore, the number of extra repetitions on the different elements were noted.Results: Results showed that visually impaired participants were able to gain sufficient driving skills to be able to use mobility scooters. Participants with visual field defects combined with low visual acuity showed most problems learning different skills and needed more training. Reverse driving and stopping seemed to be most difficult.Conclusions: The present findings suggest that visually impaired individuals are able to learn to drive mobility scooters. Mobility scooter allocators should be aware that these individuals might need more training on certain elements of the driving task. Implications for rehabilitation Visual impairments do not necessarily lead to an inability to acquire mobility scooter driving skills.Individuals with peripheral field defects (especially in combination with reduced visual acuity) need more driving ability training compared to normal-sighted people - especially to accomplish reversing.Individual assessment of visually impaired people is recommended, since participants in this study showed a wide variation in ability to learn driving a mobility scooter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]