Adaptations to support occupational engagement with age-related vision loss: A metasynthesis study.

BACKGROUND.: Age-related vision loss (ARVL) is a progressive process that adversely affects older adults' occupational engagement. As such, older adults often employ a variety of psychological adaptation strategies.

PURPOSE.: The purpose of this study was to identify those psychological adaptation strategies employed by older adults aging with ARVL.

METHOD.: This metasynthesis searched and identified 21 qualitative articles that described a link between psychological adaptation strategies and occupational engagement.

FINDINGS.: The psychological strategies identified were categorized into five themes. The strategies of persisting with hope, positivity, and acceptance and portraying a self-image consistent with independence, competence, and self-reliance were well established in the literature, while other themes were more emerging, such as using humour, relying on religious/spiritual beliefs, and comparing the self to others.

IMPLICATIONS.: By understanding the psychological adaptation strategies employed by older adults with ARVL, occupational therapists will be better positioned to guide their clients toward positive adaptive patterns.