Elderly visually disabled: life satisfaction and its predictors

Abstract

The article, based on an online survey of 433 blind and visually impaired people aged 65-94 years conducted in 10 regions of the Russian Federation, states that, in general, older visually impaired people are more satisfied with life than dissatisfied. However, the level of satisfaction is mediated by the level that they have and their socio-typological well-being - general, socio-demographic plans, and typical, typhlological ones, in the light of which the corresponding predictors of satisfaction are discovered. In terms of disability, all major categories of life activity are reflected as such outstanding abilities. In the context of the socio-demographic characteristics of elderly visually impaired people, predictors of their satisfaction with life are the stage of old age at which blind or visually impaired people find themselves, involvement in family and household relationships, high educational status, continuation of employment, including in the system of the Association of the Blind, the presence of hobbies and financial situation, and in terms of typhological characteristics - the age period when the disabling impairment of visual functions arose, the preservation of residual vision in case of blindness, as well as the experience of undergoing a rehabilitation course.