Research Goal
To support and/or conduct research relating to vision loss to ensure the continued provision of innovative and relevant services by NCBI and the public and private sectors as a whole, as well as the development of eye health initiatives.
Themes and Directions:
Our goals in research are to manage knowledge to support NCBI’s service mission to provide relevant and innovative services; and also to inform people about vision rehabilitation as well as the causes, prevention, and treatment of blindness and significant sight loss.
Through research, both primary and secondary, we will improve our understanding of the impact of vision loss, deepen the body of knowledge about blindness and vision loss in Ireland, and provide statistical information about the prevalence of significant sight loss.
This research will be used to support our attempts at influencing public policy in the areas of education, employment, health services, income maintenance, etc. Given the correlation between ageing and vision loss, research will also be important to our ability to advocate with governments for the future needs of people who are blind or vision impaired. The effectiveness of our advocacy efforts will be enhanced by the development of solid research and deeper understanding about the costs of ‘blindness’, to the individual and to society. In this work we shall collaborate with, or augment research carried out by, the National Disability Authority (NDA).
Expanding our research partnerships with Fighting Blindness and the academic and medical communities is essential and will be handled through the NCBI charitable foundation which will stimulate and support planned research.
Key Activity 1:
We will create an internal quality data collection system to inform future developments
Supporting actions:
- Develop a comprehensive CRMS (contact record management system) throughout the agency capturing information on an ongoing basis from people who use the NCBI’s services to determine their appropriateness and adequacy.
- Manage this knowledge to support NCBI’s service mission to provide relevant, specialised services nationwide, which enable people who are blind or vision impaired to overcome the barriers that impede their independence and participation in society.
- Evaluate the degree to which developments are based upon knowledge acquired through research.
Key Activity 2:
We will keep abreast of national and international research to inform us of current trends and developments
Supporting actions:
- Create a database and links to research libraries to ensure that we remain up to date with relevant research and make this information available through one Irish source.
- Improve our understanding of vision loss and deepen the body of knowledge about blindness and vision impairment.
- Benchmark our developments against current international best practice initiatives.
Key Activity 3:
We will manage this knowledge for the benefit of all people who are blind or vision impaired and the public at large
Supporting actions:
- Provide information on the impact of vision loss and the rehabilitative process.
- Raise the profile of the issue of eye health care and the causes of preventable vision loss through annual campaigns.
- Using research outcomes, advocate with government for the future needs of people who are blind or vision impaired as they experience various stages in the life cycle, particularly aging.
- Have ongoing, active collaboration with other organisations working in the area of vision impairment and sight loss and the academic and medical communities.
- Report annually on planned research funded through the NCBI Charitable Foundation.