Type of Project: Funded project Scientific Work
Promoting job rehabilitation and employability of people with visual impairments through regular sports activities

The present research project pursues the goal for people with a visual impairment to further develop the area of "work and leisure" in an inclusive way in the sense of articles 26 (habilitation and rehabilitation), 27 (work and employment) and 30 (participation in cultural life as well as in recuperation, leisure and sport) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In this context, the person with visual impairment should also become an ambassador and multiplier for exercise and sports in his social environment for other affected persons after completion of vocational rehabilitation measures. The prerequisite for this is the individually conceived holistic promotion of health competence within the framework of vocational rehabilitation. This should be promoted in parallel to job-related qualification measures, as also demanded by the expert group RehaFutur in its statement of 2009. The main goal of the project is to formulate nationwide valid and concrete recommendations for the occupationally inclusive promotion of participation of people with visual impairment through exercise and sports. To this end, the following project goals are formulated: 1. Retrospective survey (6 months): comprehensive analysis of the current situation regarding job participation, sports activity and quality of life of people with visual impairment by means of a guideline-based interview with approx. 600 former rehabilitants of the institutions BFW Düren, BFW Mainz, BFW Halle and BBW Stuttgart. 2intervention study (24 months): quasi-experimental longitudinal design with three comparison groups; it will be determined whether and to what extent specific and regular sports activities have positive effects on coordinative, psychological and social competence areas of adults with visual impairment, leading to a self-determined and active role in the job rehabilitation process (e.g. communication or team skills, psychological and physical resilience, self-confidence). 3. Sustainability (12 months): 12 months after discharge from the vocational rehabilitation measure, it will be investigated whether and to what extent regular participation in on-site sports activities has a positive effect on job-inclusive participation and employability as well as on the above-mentioned psychosocial competence areas. Furthermore, it will be examined to what extent the regular sports programs have succeeded in developing a multiplier function among the former participants in the sense of "peer counseling" in order to transfer their own enthusiasm for sports to visually impaired persons who are still rather inactive in sports. 4. Practical transfer (6 months): Development of modularized training courses and action guidelines for the practical work of Vocational Training Centres, Vocational Training Centers as well as the responsible sports associations (e.g. German Sports Association for the Disabled). The project results are presented to the public in a workshop.