The psychosocial impact of closed-circuit television low vision aids

Abstract

Low vision service providers undertake to prescribe assistive devices that redress a client's vision disabilities that have been verified by organized assessment protocols. Evaluating the functional outcomes of this process provides a tangible validation of the integrity of the component assessment, prescribing and dispensing activities, but this does not necessarily provide a comprehensive picture about associated or attributed changes in the individual's quality of life. The Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) is a 26-item self-rating scale designed to measure the impact of an assistive technology device on psychological well-being and subjective quality of life. The current study used the PIADS to assess the psychosocial impact of closed-circuit television CCTV devices on a cohort of 36 patients annually for the first three years following device adoption. Patients reported consistently high positive impacts during the first and second years post-adoption. The subjective psychosocial...