TY - JOUR
T1 - Travel Experiences of Older Adults with Visual Impairment
T2 - A Qualitative Study
AU - Yeh, Ting Yu
AU - Fan, Sheng Yu
N1 - Funding Information:
There was no external funding for this study. The authors would like to thank all of the participants who shared their valuable experiences. We also thank Associate Professor Ching-Jen Lin as an external reviewer.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Older adults with visual impairment desire to travel, and they need specific support to participate in traveling. This study explored the travel experience of 12 older Taiwanese adults with visual impairment. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, including traveling experience, difficulties encountered, the impact of ageing, and specific needs. The principles of grounded theory were used to analyze the data, and four themes were identified. First, older adults with visual impairment wanted to explore the world, improve their mood, gain self-confidence, and foster interpersonal connections through traveling. Second, adjustment to visual impairment and ageing was the basics for traveling. Third, they encountered interpersonal and environmental barriers while traveling. Fourth, they needed a traveling companion to provide practical and psychological support. Older adults with visual impairment needed psychological, practical, and environmental support to ensure trouble-free traveling.
AB - Older adults with visual impairment desire to travel, and they need specific support to participate in traveling. This study explored the travel experience of 12 older Taiwanese adults with visual impairment. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, including traveling experience, difficulties encountered, the impact of ageing, and specific needs. The principles of grounded theory were used to analyze the data, and four themes were identified. First, older adults with visual impairment wanted to explore the world, improve their mood, gain self-confidence, and foster interpersonal connections through traveling. Second, adjustment to visual impairment and ageing was the basics for traveling. Third, they encountered interpersonal and environmental barriers while traveling. Fourth, they needed a traveling companion to provide practical and psychological support. Older adults with visual impairment needed psychological, practical, and environmental support to ensure trouble-free traveling.
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U2 - 10.1080/21568316.2021.2012509
DO - 10.1080/21568316.2021.2012509
M3 - Comment/debate
AN - SCOPUS:85121375099
SN - 2156-8316
VL - 20
SP - 456
EP - 467
JO - Tourism Planning and Development
JF - Tourism Planning and Development
IS - 3
ER -