title: Everyday competence in visually impaired older adults: a case for person-environment perspectives.
abstract: In this article, the need for an explicit consideration of the environment in order to address everyday competence (EC) in old age is illustrated based on an analysis of the day-to-day challenges of visually impaired older adults. Data are based on a sample of elderly adults suffering from different degrees of visual impairment (visually severely impaired vs blind, each N = 42) and a control group of visually unimpaired elderly persons (N = 42) with age means between 74.9 and 76.8 years. Findings underscore that: (a) EC, regarded as an outcome, is negatively affected by low person-environment fit in the home environment in visually impaired older adults but not in the visually unimpaired elderly population; (b) EC, understood as daily compensatory processes, is more pronounced in the visually impaired with respect to some compensation modes (e.g., use of latent skills), but not all; and (c) EC, as a predictor variable for outdoor behavior, assumes a particularly critical role when outside environmental press is high.
authors.affiliation: German Center for Research on Aging, University of Heidelberg, Germany. wahl@dzfa.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wahl
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oswald
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zimprich
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*