User Need Assessment Survey

Research Publications/Articles/Websites on Older People with Vision Loss – Data and Research Work

Problem Statement
We believe there is a gap between available published academic research and the ability of practitioners and administrators in vision rehabilitation to access that information. We further believe that some information in academic journals may be helpful to vision rehabilitation agencies to improve quality of service and strengthen grant and development activities. We also suspect that conducting searches of literature may be time consuming and frustrating because of the difficulty of identifying relevant articles as well as the ability to access journals that require a fee to download. Therefore, the aim of this survey is to assess whether access to journal articles and other resources is a problem, and if so, what is the magnitude of the problem, and are there strategies to improve access to this information.

This survey is only 8 questions, and we anticipate that it would be completed in fewer than 10 minutes.

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* 1. What best describes your role?

Direct Service Professional

Development Professional

Administrator

Researcher / Academic

Advocate/Board Member

Other (please specify)

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* 2. How long have you worked in the field of vision rehabilitation?

Three years or less

Four to ten years

Ten years or more

Other (please specify)

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* 3. How important would it be for you to have an accessible repository of journal articles/other resources to support your work?

Very important

Important

Neither important nor unimportant

Unimportant

Not important at all

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* 4. What is your perception of your difficulty in accessing academic/data sources regarding aging and vision impairment?

A big problem—I have a major problem identifying and accessing information for staff and program development and to support grant applications.

A problem—There are gaps in information I need for staff/organization development/grant applications, and it would be useful to have additional resources.

Not much of a problem. I have all the information I need and can live without the things I do not have.

No problem at all. I have all the information I need; don’t need anything else. Skip to question 8 if selected.

Question Title

* 5. What areas of information would you look for in the resource/repository? Please rank on a 5 point scale the importance of each topic area, with “5” as “very important” and “1” as “not very important at all.”

	1	2	3	4	5
Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services	Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services 1	Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services 2	Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services 3	Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services 4	Evidence-based vision rehabilitation services 5
Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss	Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss 1	Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss 2	Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss 3	Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss 4	Demographics and health disparities for older people with vision loss 5
Program development, public health policy	Program development, public health policy 1	Program development, public health policy 2	Program development, public health policy 3	Program development, public health policy 4	Program development, public health policy 5
Information to contribute to staff and board development	Information to contribute to staff and board development 1	Information to contribute to staff and board development 2	Information to contribute to staff and board development 3	Information to contribute to staff and board development 4	Information to contribute to staff and board development 5
Other	Other 1	Other 2	Other 3	Other 4	Other 5

(Please specify)

Question Title

* 6. If a repository were developed, what should the contents look like?

A core list of 30-50 seminal articles addressing vision rehabilitation, generally including a list of articles new professionals and stakeholders in vision rehabilitation should read. Topics may include background and history of vision rehabilitation; general demographics of vision loss; economic and racial/ethnic disparities of vision loss; etc. Assembled once and not managed.

A comprehensive list of important 200 or so articles classified into various categories, including demographics, health, social, and economic disparities, access to care, best practices, public policy, and others. List would not have to be managed—just updated occasionally.

A more robust interactive portal to query articles and existing data sources for agency/staff research (not academic research)—something that is up to date and maintained by knowledgeable people.

Something else. Please explain.

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* 7. If a resource/portal were developed, how willing would you be to pay a fee to access it?

Very Willing—would contribute my fair share to the total cost of operating the resources to sustain the resource.

Willing—would pay something to offset costs, but a repository would have to obtain additional financial support.

Neither willing nor unwilling—on the fence, might or might not pay.

Not willing—not enough value to contribute

Not at all willing—if done, someone else should pay

User Need Assessment Survey

Research Publications/Articles/Websites on Older People with Vision Loss – Data and Research Work

Question Title

* 1. What best describes your role?

Question Title

* 2. How long have you worked in the field of vision rehabilitation?

Question Title

* 3. How important would it be for you to have an accessible repository of journal articles/other resources to support your work?

Question Title

* 4. What is your perception of your difficulty in accessing academic/data sources regarding aging and vision impairment?

Question Title

* 5. What areas of information would you look for in the resource/repository? Please rank on a 5 point scale the importance of each topic area, with “5” as “very important” and “1” as “not very important at all.”

Question Title

* 6. If a repository were developed, what should the contents look like?

Question Title

* 7. If a resource/portal were developed, how willing would you be to pay a fee to access it?

Question Title

* 8. Are you familiar with/aware of other such portals/repositories? If so, please specify.