A Psychological Approach to Attitudes toward Blind Persons

1987 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 323-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Vickers

In a paper prepared for presentation at Goldwater Memorial Hospital in the spring of 1986, the author discusses vision loss in elderly patients. The paper further addresses the effects of stereotyping on treatment for elderly visually impaired persons and stresses self-esteem and responsibility as two integral factors in the emotional and physical well-being of the elderly patient.

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko Takahashi ◽  
Junko Tamura ◽  
Makiko Tokoro

On the premise that social relationships among elderly adults differ in terms of the most significant, dominant figure, this study aimed to examine: (1) whether there were qualitative differences in supportive functions between family-dominant and friend-dominant affective relationships, and (2) whether “lone wolves”, who were deficient in human resources, had difficulties in maintaining their well-being. A total of 148 Japanese, over the age of 65, both living in communities and in institutions were individually interviewed about their social relationships using a self-report type method, the Picture Affective Relationships test, and their well-being was assessed using Depression, Self-esteem, Life satisfaction, and Subjective health scales. Results showed that there were no differences in psychological well-being between family-dominant and friend-dominant participants, but those who lacked affective figures had lower scores in subjective well-being than did their family-dominant and friend-dominant counterparts. The generalisation of these findings to other cultures is discussed.


1971 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 334-336
Author(s):  
Benjamin Wolf

□ Visual impairment is not necessarily blindness and the requirements of visually impaired persons are in many ways significantly different from those of blind persons. All too often agencies for the blind have not distinguished between these different requirements in providing services. The essential difference is that blind persons must rely on their other senses in order to function, while partially sighted persons must be helped to use whatever vision they have in coordination with their other senses. In providing services to partially sighted persons, the following basic principles should be considered: 1) Full service requires the cooperation of medical, physical, and behavioral specialists; 2) Services for partially sighted clients should be individualized on the basis of their differences in degree and quality of sight; 3) Whatever vision the client has should be augmented or strengthened through either mechanical or physical means; and 4) Clients should be helped to enhance their perception to its maximum functional potential.


Author(s):  
Volodymyr Shevchenko ◽  
Viktoriia Kopach

This article highlights the psychological features of counseling with problem clients of old age and there adiness of future and practicing psychologists for this work. It is determined that the modern world, duetoits complexity, dynamism and contradictions, creates various problems for the elderly and actively in terferesin his personal space. All this has a negative effecton the health of the elderly and onthestate of their mental well-being. This leads to certain changesin the personality of the old person: in creased feelings of in feriority, in security, fluctuationsin self-esteem, increased sensitivity; depressed mood, feelings of loneliness, helplessness, anxiety, reducedefficiency; restructuringofthe motivational-needs system, valueorientations; adjustmentof «I-concept»; in creasing interestin experiencing the past, its revaluation; exacerbation and changesin some traits; decreas edvoliti on alactivity, apathymayoccur. As a result, the number of elderlypeoplein need of psychological helpissig nificantly increasing. At the same time, dueto subjective and objective reasons, they may not always behavea dequately during psychological counseling, preventing specialists from solving their psychological problems. It was fo undthat the problem clients of the psychologists hould include: anxious individuals; individuals who experiencefear and phobias; hostileandaggressiveindividuals; unmotivatedclients; customers with inflatedrequirements; individuals who experienceguilt (loss); payingcustomers; hysterical personalities; obsessive personalities; paranoid personalities; schizophrenic personalities; antisocial personalities; individuals who abusealcohol; individuals in a state of depression and suicidalideation. Counseling for the elderly can be carried out on the following issues: severeloss and acutegrief, lossoffunctionalability, difficulties or conflictsin relationships and communication, understanding and changingliving conditions, adaptation to new life circumstances, needs assessment, work withstress, loss of meaningin life , fear of death, etc.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 2415-2419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Carmen Albu ◽  
Raluca Elena Sandu ◽  
Andreea Lili Barbulescu ◽  
Elena-Anca Tartea ◽  
Emilia Burada ◽  
...  

The aim of the study was to assess the correlations between the acute confusing syndrome and different comorbidities found in a group of 126 elderly patients with this diagnosis, who were admitted to the Neurology Clinic of the Neuropsychiatry Hospital of Craiova. The main syndromes highlighted at the neurological examination were confusing, pyramidal and vestibular syndromes. The acute confusing syndrome has a multifactorial etiology, due to the wide range of comorbidities encountered in elderly patients. In our study the most frequent comorbidities were cardiovascular pathology, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, cerebrovascular renal, hepatic pathology.


Accessibility is the possibility of any person to make use of all the benefits of society, including the Internet. As the interfaces are typically graphic, sites can be an obstacle for visually impaired persons to access. For a site to be accessible to blind persons it’s necessary the information contained in the visual resources be reproduced by means of an “equivalent” textual description, capable of transmitting the same information as the visual resources. This study is aimed at identifying and defining usability guidance compliant with accessibility W3C directives that can facilitate the interaction between visually impaired and Internet and still guarantee sites with understandable navigation content. Towards this end an exploratory study was conducted, comprised of a field study and interviews with visually disabled people from Instituto Benjamin Constant, reference center in Brazil for the education of visually impaired persons, in order to get to know these users better.


1976 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Thompson ◽  
S. E. Goldstein

Occupational Therapy has an important role to play in promoting maximum functioning in the elderly. Activities should be more than “busy work”. They are important therapeutic tools which, when properly used, promote self-esteem and a feeling of usefulness. This is of Particular significance in working with the elderly. The authors have attempted to describe the application of these principles in treating elderly patients on a fourteen-bed psychogeriatric unit. The occupational therapist functioned as a vital part of the rehabilitative team for both in-patients and those outside of hospital.


Author(s):  
Chris Dodds ◽  
Chandra M. Kumar ◽  
Frédérique Servin

This book provides a timely and authoritative synopsis of the current state of anaesthesia and the elderly patient at a time when the challenge of caring for the growing numbers of elderly patients is probably the greatest faced by healthcare across the globe. The book reviews important developments in the understanding of clinical practice serving the elderly. It describes the need for anaesthesia to deliver ‘best care’ to the elderly, with the aim to maintain their independent living. It then details the key features of ageing and the effect these have on physiology and pharmacology. Specific aspects of practice, including preoperative assessment; day surgery; emergency surgery; anaesthesia for orthopaedic, urological, and gynaecological surgery, as well as major abdominal surgery; neurosurgery; and critical care. Emphasis is placed on managing postoperative care and cognitive dysfunction (POCD), with additional discussion of ethical issues and the law pertaining to the elderly patient. A new chapter reviews the challenges of treating elderly patients in non-theatre environments.


1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 509-513
Author(s):  
W. Gerrey ◽  
J. Brabyn ◽  
W. Crandall

Although fax communications pose a problem of accessibility for blind and visually impaired office workers, with centralized readers’ services they could be used to address the wider reading needs of blind and visually impaired people. With this technology, blind persons with fax machines could send unknown print to readers at a centralized readers’ service, who would read facsimiles of the documents over voice phones. This article discusses the specifications for appropriate equipment and protocols and presents the preliminary results of a study of such a system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Memel ◽  
Kelsi Chesney ◽  
Dhiraj J Pangal ◽  
Phillip A Bonney ◽  
John D Carmichael ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) for pituitary adenomas (PAs) is performed on elderly patients with increasing frequency. More research is necessary to assess the risk factors that are associated with TSS in an aging population. OBJECTIVE To perform a retrospective study on postoperative safety outcomes following TSS in the elderly population stratified by decade of life. METHODS A retrospective chart review of the USC Pituitary Database was conducted to identify patients ≥70 yr, who underwent TSS for PAs between 1995 and 2017. Surgical outcomes were analyzed in elderly (≥70 yr) vs nonelderly (<70 yr) patients. Elderly patients were additionally stratified according to age 70 to 79 vs ≥80 yr. RESULTS The cohorts included 115 elderly patients (70-79 yr: 94 patients; ≥80 yr: 21 patients) and 770 nonelderly patients. Elderly patients presented with more vision loss (62% vs 38%, P < .0001), dizziness (17% vs 6%, P = .0001) and altered mental status (7.3% vs 3%, P = .0451). Overall rates of surgical, medical, and endocrine complications were similar; however, elderly patients had significantly higher rates of postoperative hyponatremia (9.3% vs 4.7%, P = .0401) and lower rates of transient diabetes insipidus (0.9% vs 7.9%, P = .0038). Patients ≥ 80 yr had significantly more surgical complications (26.3%) compared to the 70 to 79 group (7.87%; P = .021) and <70 group (12.5%; P = .04). CONCLUSION Patients >70 yr are appropriate surgical candidates for TSS given the similar safety outcomes as younger patients. Given the higher propensity for surgical complications; however, a higher level of operative selectivity should be maintained in octogenarian patients.


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