Understanding risk in daily life of diverse persons with physical and sensory impairments

Abstract

Managing risk of injury in daily life is a task common to all humans. However, people with impairments face significantly greater challenges in both assessing and managing risk of injury. To find out more about how individuals with impairments understand risk, we developed a qualitative study design based on semi-structured interviews. Seven people with a broad range of impairments were recruited for the study. The interviews were analyzed and organized into a codification tree subdivided into four main sections: safety and risk management, risk situation portrayal, perceptions of safety measures and finally loss of control and strong sensations. The study revealed that the difficulties related to managing risk in day-to-day situations are much higher than for people without impairments and, indeed, are possibly under reported in the literature. The realization that risk is ever present in the daily lives of people with impairments has led us to reconsider how we move forward on the remainder of our study.