Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A team of Mississippi State researchers will discuss the preliminary results of an ongoing five-year study of hearing and vision problems faced by aging Americans during an upcoming national conference.
The specialists from the university's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision will summarize the initial results of their national survey during the Feb. 8-10 gathering in Atlanta, Ga. "Persons Aging with Hearing and Vision Loss: Creating Roads to Independence" is the conference theme.
Established in 1981 as the only one of its kind on a U.S. university campus, the RRTC, as it's usually referred, is a part of the College of Education.
The 2002-07 study, titled "Persons Aging with Hearing and Vision Loss," is a collaborative research effort among the MSU center, San Diego State University and New York-based Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults. It is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in Washington, D.C.
"We are looking at the impact of both hearing and vision loss on the independence, functioning and lifestyles of seniors," said B.J. LeJeune, senior research associate and director of the MSU center's Office of Deafblind Programs. [Ed. note: "Deafblind" is the correct spelling.]
"It has been an exciting project in that we have gathered great information from a nationally representative study sample of more than 400 folks who are responding to a series of surveys, as well as data from numerous focus groups and personal interviews," LeJeune said.
"The conference will highlight some of our research findings," she added. "We are hopeful the research results will translate into public policy that will improve services and life options for seniors with dual sensory loss."
LeJeune, MSU team leader, will provide an overview of the project. Colleagues Michele McDonnall, an assistant research professor, and research associates William Sansing and Stacy Butler will discuss specific aspects of the project.
Other national specialists, including representatives of the Keller Center and San Diego State, will be among featured speakers at the conference, which is being co-sponsored by the Atlanta-based Veteran's Administration Rehabilitation Research and Development Center.
"This conference represents the transition of research findings into applied training programs," said center director Elton Moore, one of MSU's top-level William L. Giles Distinguished Professors.
Moore said the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project consortium is focusing on the exploration of strategies to improve the lives of people 55 years or age or older who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, and who are now experiencing secondary vision or hearing problems resulting from the aging process.
Specific areas addressed in the study include employment, use of assistive technology and communications systems, transportation, housing, specialized services, and psycho-social adjustment to sensory loss. Oversight is provided by a participatory action research team comprised of older persons with hearing and vision loss problems.
LeJeune said learning objectives of the Atlanta conference will include creating an understanding of issues faced by seniors with both hearing and vision loss, identifying the best methods of addressing those issues, and locating available resources to assist that growing segment of the American population.
"We are still analyzing much of the data for publication over the next two years," she noted.
In a separate development, Moore announced the MSU center has received a $50,000 gift from the George B. Storer Foundation in Florida for the purpose of upgrading a computer laboratory that will be used to teach a vision specialist course.
"This represents the largest gift the center has ever received from the Storer Foundation," said Moore. "It underscores the importance of networking."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact LeJeune at (662) 325-2001 or bjlejeune@colled.msstate.edu. Dr. Moore may be reached at 325-2001 or jemoore@colled.msstate.edu.