Psychological and Psychiatric Comorbidity in Adults With Visual Impairment – Webinar
On April 18th, from 4:00 to 5:00pm (CET – Central European Time), ENVITER held another WEBINAR, part of the PsyCoVIA project – International sharing of knowledge and expertise on psychological and psychiatric comorbidity in adults with visual impairment – dissemination events.
Goals for this Webinar:
In the webinar, the team will shared their experiences on the following topics:
- The format of the Transnational Project Meetings (TPM) and to what way this was experienced as an effective method to share experiences;
- The most important insights gained during this project on providing care to adults with a visual impairment and comorbid mental disorders;
- The procedure used to discuss the cases, that was based on the socratic intervision method.
Background:
The complexity of a visual impairment with multiple additional disabilities is often the reason for adopting a highly individualistic approach. A pilot study by Boesen et al. (2016) showed that there is hardly any literature available on how to deal with these multi-problems. Especially literature on the combination of psychological and psychiatric symptoms with a visual impairment is missed. Within the entire population of people with a visual impairment, this is a small group. It is therefore inevitable and necessary to work together with partners from abroad in order to better support this vulnerable group of clients through joint expertise. The method we use for this is the sharing of best practices.
During six Transnational Project meetings, professionals and clients from five countries shared their knowledge and expertise in this area by presenting their own knowledge and discussing cases on specific topics. All good practices shared during these meetings were collected in a digital ‘Good Practices Book’ that can be used for further training of professionals (educators and trainers) in working with adults with a visual impairment and additional psychological/psychiatric problems. With the ultimate goal to better assist service users.
The format of this project and the structure of the different TPM’s were experienced as successful and highly effective by the different partners. The combination of presentations and case discussions was a good way to exchange knowledge and build a strong network between the participating organizations.
Presenters:
- Marit van Buijsen, Robert Coppes Foundation, the Netherlands
- André Kunnig, Berufsförderungswerk Halle, Germany
- Ana Petrinec & Emina Šišić-Anđelić, Center for education and rehabilitation ‘Vinko Bek’, Croatia
- Janka Braun, Ildikó Gálné Németh & Emese Tóth, Budapest School for the Blind, Hungary
- Elena Weber, Regional Institute Rittmeyer for the Blind, Italy
You can find the presentation used in this webinar here or you can see the recorded presentation in ENVITER youtube channel.
