Research
NCBI is committed to supporting and conducting research relating to vision loss and has commissioned a study into the cost of sight loss in Ireland. This study, which will be published in mid-2011, will look at the main causes of sight loss in Ireland and the economic impact vision impairment will have over the next 10 years, examining direct and indirect costs to the State. This is the first study of its kind in the Republic of Ireland.
EU-funded projects
ICFProVIP
This two-year project is funded under the EU Life long Learning Partnerships Programme and involves seven European sight loss organisations. ICF is an international classification of health, approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001. It has been officially endorsed as the standard to describe and measure health and disability by 191 countries. Within this system disability is not viewed in contrast to health but rather as a continuum of health and promotes a focus on ability instead of disability.
The main aim of this project is to research the current use of ICF with people with vision impairments in Ireland and to explore the potential of introducing ICF into organisations where it is not used. Those involved in promoting ICF intend for it to become the standard by which people define and understand disability, and as such provide a standard and comparable means of collecting disability statistics.
In January, three NCBI staff attended a training course on the introduction and use of ICF delivered by V. Following on from this training NCBI designed, developed, and delivered our own training programme to introduce ICF to NCBI.
http://www.enviter.eu/index.php?idcat=42
XPress Your Vision
This project has been developed to support people with vision impairment to enhance their social and professional image to meet the needs of the modern employment market. It seeks to empower people with vision impairments to express themselves confidently in social and professional environments. The project aims to develop and provide training via accessible online learning in four main subject areas: eye diseases, their impact, and compensation; job application practice; first steps in a new job and tips and tricks. The modules are aimed at job seekers, those who wish to retain employment and employers. This project is funded under the EU Life Long Learning Programme and involves six partner organisations from six European countries.
www.xpressvision.eu
BRAVIS
As part of this project NCBI conducted a user requirement study to explore the needs of people with vision impairments in relation to orientation and mobility and navigation aids. The results guided the project to concentrate on two of the most difficult navigation tasks for people who are blind or vision impaired that are as of yet unresolved: arriving at a location but being unable to find the precise place you wish to be, for example the entrance to a building, and crossing large open spaces, both indoor and outdoor, when there are no marked paths or tangible landmarks. The Bravis project is supported by the EU FP7 initiative and aims to research and develop an aid to address these problems.
www.bravisfp7.com
Eveil - Comenius project
The project is being led by the French Federation of the Blind and is exploring ways of helping children with vision impairments to develop their reading skills, especially developing their Braille skills. The other partners are Germany, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic with a division of labour between the partners. France, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have focused on the way children can be helped in the education systems of each country while NCBI is leading on looking at how parents can support their children in learning to read. To date we have completed an initial survey on support practices in partner countries and are now examining the findings to identify topics for workshops which, in turn, will provide material for a conference later in the year.
Vision in Enterprise (Leonardo da Vinci programme)
This partnership is being led by Action for Blind People (ABP) in the UK and includes Poland, Cyprus and Ireland. The purpose of the project is to encourage people with vision impairments to establish their own businesses based on a model that has been developed by ABP. The project is at an early stage and NCBI is organising an initial seminar to establish a baseline of current activity in partner countries.
The EU Projects and Research department was invited by LEVRETA (Leonardo European Vision Rehabilitation Education and Training Association) to attend as an international observer at the examination and results ceremony of graduates in the Netherlands.
ENVITER (European Network for Vision Impairment Training Education and Research) held meetings during 2010 which saw a number of project applications developed for submission to the EU for funding. The network provided a good forum for the exchange of information and expertise generally in the field of service provision to people with vision impairment in the EU.
A national study of mobility in the lives of Irish blind and vision impaired adults was jointly commissioned by NCBI and Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. The study examines mobility issues and training needs of blind and vision impaired persons. The occupational therapy department of Trinity College Dublin was engaged to undertake the study. The results of this study will be published in 2011.