Outcome assessment of the rehabilitation of the visually impaired

The purposes of this project are to establish the psychometric properties of instruments used to gather data relevant to blind rehabilitation outcomes, to refine the scaling and scoring protocols for the instruments, and to revise and refine the outcome instruments. This 3-year project will gather outcome and demographic data from an estimated 1,200 visually impaired veterans per year, along with a companion sample an estimated 1,200 visually impaired nonveterans per year, using the following core measures: Blind Rehabilitation Service Follow-up Outcome Survey (BRSFOutSur) measuring functional performance, Blind Rehabilitation Service Data Base (BRSDBase) recording subject characteristics, and Blind Rehabilitation Service Satisfaction Survey (BRSSatSur) measuring satisfaction with rehabilitation. As of July 1999, data from 2,624 veterans have been collected for the demographic instrument, from 1,630 veterans for the functional outcomes instrument, and from 1,655 veterans for the satisfaction instrument. Data collection and analysis are currently ongoing. These findings and the further development of outcome instruments in this area will contribute to greater efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of blind rehabilitation services by the Department of Veterans Affairs.