The broad reach of the wellbeing debate: Emotional wellbeing and vision loss

In: British journal of visual impairment: BJVI, Band 30, Heft 1, S. 50-55

Abstract

What is meant by the term 'wellbeing'? Much has been written on the relationship between chronic illness and mental health outcomes, particularly in terms of 'happiness', and the reciprocal relationship between physical and emotional health. Visual impairment research into wellbeing has tended to focus specifically on the concept of e motional wellbeing, and how functional disability may impact negatively on mental health. As a consequence of such research, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of 'preventing' negative mental health outcomes in the visually impaired population and 'promoting' emotional wellbeing. However, despite the many wellbeing interventions and initiatives, the actual meaning of the term remains rather nebulous. Depending on one's standpoint, 'wellbeing' may translate as a physical, social, emotional or even spiritual construct and follow different models which all have their own agendas, aims, methodologies and discourse. Furthermore, a shift is evident towards a two-dimensional framework of wellbeing which considers not just what makes chronically ill individuals happy in terms of goals and aspirations, but what makes them 'flourish' and find meaning in life. It is specifically this second dimension of wellbeing which remains to be investigated in visual impairment research. The purpose of this article is therefore to present the theoretical underpinnings of the wellbeing agenda, the methodological implications, and the impact on future research into wellbeing and visual impairment.