Abstract
This issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) represents the first one published in the new year, 2024. As we begin this 118th volume of JVIB, there is considerable unrest across the world that threatens the sense of security of every individual, regardless of where they live. Headlines in the United States focus on the brutal wars in Ukraine and Russia and Israel and Gaza, but there are many other areas around the globe in which people live with increasing uncertainty about their safety and ability to access health care and education.
The psychologist Abraham Mazlow posited in 1943 that individuals whose physiological and security needs are met are better able to focus their energy on higher-order activities that are associated with personal growth, like caring for others and attaining and creating knowledge. Given the state of the world today, it is likely that many more people who are blind or have low vision will experience greater hardship, further straining the ability of service providers to meet their needs. Of less importance (but still of concern) is the likelihood that there will be effects on the research that is conducted in the field of services to individuals with visual impairments. Over the past 5 years, nearly 59% of the manuscripts submitted to JVIB have been authored by researchers and practitioners who live outside of North America. These authors have conducted their research in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and Oceania, and their contributions help readers to understand the differences and similarities of the lived experiences of people with visual impairments across cultures. These papers from around the globe help to direct the efforts of the professionals in the field of visual impairment to further the dignity and independence of individuals who are blind or have low vision.
You will find reminders of the international scope of JVIB as you read the articles contained in this issue. In addition to a paper continuing the long line of orientation and mobility research by Bouquin and colleagues on the yielding behaviors of drivers in the United States when a pedestrian with visual impairment is preparing to cross a street, the remaining five papers describe research conducted in countries far away from North America. In Greece, the research team, led by Theodorou, explored the challenges related to the acceptance and abandonment of smartphone technologies by people with visual impairments. Their research suggests that the application of a new training model is likely to improve long-term acceptance of applications or apps on these devices. Baker and colleagues, in Australia, identified a simple, but effective, adaptation to a common test for measuring cardiopulmonary capacity. Two of the included papers describe research projects conducted in South Korea. In one, Lee and colleagues found that the nutritional and dietary status of adults with visual impairments was similar to what is found in the sighted population. Choi and colleagues, who explored the health behaviors of young employed adults who are blind, provide evidence that these practices are related to both the environmental context in which they live and the recognition of their personal agency by health care professionals. Finally, the comment included in this issue expresses the need for greater attention to the needs of people with visual impairments within the health care system in Pakistan.
As demonstrated in this issue, JVIB lives up to its promise that it is the international peer-reviewed journal of record in the field. This status, however, will be difficult to maintain in a world filled with war and unrest. It is the sincere hope of all the people involved in the publication of JVIB that 2024 proves to be the year in which intra- and international differences are resolved and that more of the world's people live in peace, so that we may all prosper.