When one partner can no longer see: Exploring the lived experiences of romantic partners in the context of vision loss

Abstract

This qualitative descriptive study aims to explore the lived experience of the adjustment process of couples who face vision loss, investigating the impact of such loss on daily life and the adjustments and adaptations that ensue. To undertake such an exploration, the application of an occupational perspective is relevant where the meaning and purpose partners ascribe to their everyday activities can be investigated. A total of 16 couples living in Western Switzerland were interviewed between January and June 2020. Data collection was carried out with semi-structured face-to-face interview. Three themes emerge from the thematic analysis of transcripts. The first theme emphasizes that either separate or joint everyday activities of partners can be shared within couples, which all give sense to the partnership; the second one shows that vision loss disrupts the engagement of partners in such shared everyday activities. The third theme highlights partners’ efforts to reshape their engagement in their shared everyday activities in order to maintain a sense of couple’s we-ness. While navigating vision loss requires both partners to jointly engage in this process of reshaping, couples described tension that arises because of the partners with vision loss’ growing dependence on the other partner. One’s sense of control when navigating vision loss is critical to adjust to a changing and changed daily life. Further research is needed that focuses on how romantic partners ascribe a shared meaning and purpose to their engagement in everyday activities, separate or joint, and how such meaning and purpose are impacted by the onset or aggravation of one partner’s vision loss.

Social functioning in adults with visual impairment from minority ethnic communities in the United Kingdom

“…Previous research has described the impact of sight loss on couples, particularly on shared activities. This includes a need to adapt activities to enable both partners to continue to take part and a shift in responsibilities towards the sighted partner, resulting in perceived dependence and tension in some couples ( 62 ). V.I.…”

“…There is conflicting evidence relating to the availability of social support to adults with V.I. Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (18) showed that, among adults aged 45 to 89, vision loss (having self-reported "fair" or "poor, non-existent, or blind" eyesight with glasses or lenses) was independently associated with lower availability of different types of social support, particularly in those aged [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. Social support in this study included overall support, emotional-informational support, positive interactions, as well as affectionate and tangible support.…”