The Relationship of Age to Level of Performance and Independence Associated with Rehabilitative Interventions Provided to Older Adults Who Are Blind

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between rehabilitative interventions and older adults with visual impairments. This study employed an ex post facto, quasi-experimental design which analyzed changes that occurred based on composite pretest and posttest scores representing levels of performance and independence. Participants were visually impaired adults, age 65 and above, who successfully completed a rehabilitation program intended to increase their skills for independent living. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine if there were significant improvements on pretest to posttest levels of performance and independence derived from the rehabilitative interventions, and if improvements were related to age. Statistically significant gains were noted on overall performance and independence for both the ADL and IADL domains.