Understanding the circumstances of blind and partially sighted people
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the circumstances of blind and partially sighted people
IRAS ID
155132
Contact name
Philippa Simkiss
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
14/IEC08/1003, REC Reference
Research summary
This study aims to give us an insight into the experiences of the 350,000 registered blind and partially sighted adults in Great Britain. It is funded and commissioned by the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
Existing evidence suggests that people with sight loss face greater restrictions and a lower quality of life than the general population and other disabled people. This study will build on previous research in this area, and provide us with important information about how wider societal change has impacted on blind and partially sighted people. Topics covered will include wellbeing, access to services, employment and support.
This is a social survey with 1000 registered blind and partially sighted people. The register of blind and partially sighted people is held locally by social services departments. We do not have the resources to work with all 204 local authorities, and will therefore select a random sample of areas. In each of these areas we will contact a random sample of the adult registered population with information about the study and asking if they would agree to be contacted about it. The sampling process we are adopting means that every adult registered blind and partially sighted person has an equal chance of being asked to participate in the research. The interviews would be conducted by telephone by trained social survey interviewers using a computer-administrated standardised interview schedule. We may also contact existing RNIB service users to take part in the study. This will be done in areas, where information about registered population is not published (such as Northern Ireland).
Finally, this study is longitudinal. We have funding in place to conduct two waves of telephone interviews. The first wave will take place in 2014/15, with a follow-up for those agreeing to be re-contacted in 2018/19.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
14/IEC08/1003
Date of REC Opinion
18 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion