Content validity of a home-based person-environment interaction assessment tool for visually impaired adults

Home-based assessments require in-depth analyses of daily living difficulties. No assessment tool that has been validated with visually impaired adult subjects has allowed such analysis. This research adapted a home-based person-environment interaction assessment tool designed for persons who are visually impaired. The Model of Competence, an explanatory model of the person-environment relationship, served as the conceptual framework. A qualitative study was conducted with professionals, visually impaired persons, and informal caregivers. Focus groups and semistructured individual interviews were used for data collection. The content and form had to be modified to adapt the assessment tool for use with visually impaired adults. This qualitative study documents the content validity of the Home Assessment of Person-Environment Interaction-Visual Version. The assessment tool will provide vision rehabilitation professionals better screens and explanations of handicap-created situations faced by visually impaired persons at home. By using a structured analysis based on a person-environment theoretical model, this new assessment tool fills a scientific and clinical gap, optimizes the evaluation process, and documents the intervention plan by providing an understanding of the home context.