0800 987 1087We are delighted to announce the publication of the IVI (Impact of Vision Impairment Rehabilitation and Habilitation) Scotland Study, the first quantitative study of the impact of vision rehabilitation and habilitation undertaken in Scotland.
The research provides important new evidence of the difference these services can make to the lives of children, young people and adults who are blind or vision impaired.
Building the evidence for change
Vision Collaborative Scotland was established because organisations across the vision impairment sector recognised that the challenges facing people in our communities are too significant for any one organisation to address alone.
Together, we are committed to transforming the future of vision impairment services in Scotland by amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, identifying shared priorities and developing sustainable solutions that can have a life-changing impact.
A key priority has been strengthening the evidence base for vision rehabilitation and habilitation. While the transformative impact of these services has long been understood by those who deliver and receive them, there has been limited quantitative evidence demonstrating their effectiveness in Scotland.
The IVI Scotland Study was developed to address this gap.
A collaborative approach
Funded by Sight Scotland and Thomas Pocklington Trust, the study was delivered through an international collaboration between Vision Collaborative Scotland, the University of Melbourne, the Centre for Eye Research Australia, Glasgow Caledonian University and PROMInsight in Singapore.
Importantly, the research was designed and delivered in partnership with the communities it seeks to serve.
Between November 2024 and March 2026, 13 community-based services across Scotland participated in the study, with 118 people taking part:109 adults and nine children and young people.
This community-partnered approach helped ensure that the experiences of blind and vision impaired people were central to the research, while working alongside organisations delivering vision rehabilitation and habilitation services across Scotland.
What did the study find?
The findings demonstrate the positive impact of vision rehabilitation and habilitation on people’s daily lives.
For adults participating in vision rehabilitation, vision-related quality of life improved across a wide range of areas, including reading and accessing information, mobility, independence and everyday activities.
The study also found improvements in emotional wellbeing and mental health. Emotional wellbeing scores improved for both groups of adults.
For children and young people, the study found a promising trend towards improved vision-related quality of life. However, only nine children and young people participated, and the report highlights the need for larger studies to better understand the impact of vision habilitation for this group.
Why this evidence matters
The findings reinforce the important role that vision rehabilitation and habilitation can play in helping people who are blind or vision impaired to:
- develop or regain skills for independent living;
- improve mobility, safety and confidence;
- access information and communicate more independently;
- participate more fully in their communities;
- improve emotional wellbeing; and
- achieve their own goals and maintain greater independence.
At the same time, the research highlights that access to services remains uneven across Scotland. The report calls for sustained investment in the specialist workforce and accessible community-based services so that people can receive timely support when they need it.
What happens next?
The publication of the IVI Scotland Study is an important milestone, but it is also a starting point for further work.
The report identifies priorities including following people over a longer period to understand whether benefits are sustained, identifying which elements of rehabilitation contribute most to individual outcomes, further integrating lived experience into research, and undertaking larger studies of vision habilitation for children and young people.
It also sets out a number of actions needed to strengthen vision rehabilitation and habilitation in Scotland, including increased investment, timely access to services, national quality standards, a national workforce review and further research into long-term outcomes and cost savings.
Read the full IVI Scotland Study
We are pleased to share this important evidence and hope the findings will help strengthen understanding of the value of vision rehabilitation and habilitation, support investment in these essential services, and contribute to a future where everyone in Scotland who is blind or vision impaired can access the support they need to live independently and participate fully in society. The full report is linked below, as is a document summarising provision of adult vision impairment support across Scotland:
A Clearer Picture: Mapping adult vision impairment support in Scotland
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the study, including people with lived experience, participating services, researchers, partners and organisations across Scotland. Their expertise, commitment and collaboration have been instrumental in helping to build the evidence for vision rehabilitation and habilitation.
Together, we can use this evidence to help shape a stronger, more accessible future for vision impairment services in Scotland.
As an additional accessibility option, the reports linked above can also be accessed by scanning the QR codes contained in the document linked below:
Posted on the: October 8, 2026
