The impact of COVID-19 on the everyday life of blind and sighted individuals

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unexpected and unavoidable changes in daily life worldwide. Governments and communities found ways to mitigate the impact of these changes, but many solutions were inaccessible to people with visual impairments. This work aimed to investigate how blind individuals subjectively experienced the restrictions and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, a group of twenty-seven blind and seventeen sighted people took part in a survey addressing how COVID-19 impacted life practically and psychologically, how it affected their daily habits, and how it changed their experiences of themselves and others. Results demonstrated that both sighted and blind individuals had a hard time adapting to the new situation. However, while sighted people struggled more with personal and social aspects, the frustration of the blind population derived mostly from more practical and logistical issues. Likely as consequences, results showed that blind people engaged more in their inner life and experienced fear and anger as main emotions. This study suggests that changes in life associated with COVID-19 have been subjectively experienced differently based on the presence or not of blindness, and that tailored future interventions should be considered to take care of the different needs of blind individuals.

Loneliness and Coping Styles Among Athletes With Disabilities During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

“…Athletes with visual impairment reported increased loneliness levels compared with other disability groups, but this was noted in Time B and within the domain of "intimate contacts". This heightened sense of loneliness among individuals with visual impairments could stem from the fact that visual impairment impacts quality of life, mainly through difficulties in activities of daily living because of practical and logistical reasons [40,41]. During the third and fourth waves, these individuals could have accepted the increased restrictions and the resulting heightened sense of loneliness.…”

Living in an untouchable world: Barriers to recreation and tourism for Portuguese blind people during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Having a disability or impairment is not a sufficient condition for being considered more vulnerable ( Clough, 2017 ; Oliver, 1990 ). However, PwD have individual characteristics which, in intersection with the context (social, political and historical) where they live, increase the level of exposure to vulnerable situations generated by events like the COVID-19 pandemic ( Boyle et al, 2020 ; Gori et al, 2022 ; Shakespeare et al, 2021 ). As a result of the increase in average life expectancy, PwD are living longer today but are more dependent, due to the loss of some capabilities ( Alves, 2016 ).…”

“…For many PwD, the increased degree of risk of the virus came from their high support needs for most activities of daily life, especially support requiring physical proximity of another person (e.g., for dressing, undressing, bathing, eating, mobility) ( Daly, 2020 ; Gori et al, 2022 ). Worldwide, PwD, including seniors with disabilities or impairments, are the majority of residents in institutional settings ( United Nations, 2020 ).…”

People with Visual Impairment Continue to Experience Difficulties in Their Daily Lives that Affect Their Health-related Quality of Life after the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, when people were forced to take countermeasures against infection during the pandemic, contact with objects and people was limited. Thus, during this period, people with VI experienced many difficulties in daily life (1) , (2) , (3) , and their health was negatively affected (4) .…”