Abstract
For the purpose of encouraging persons with visual impairments to take part in society, a questionnaire survey was carried out in a local city. Two hundred and one (201) persons with visual impairments who had been issued a disability identification notebook by government were sent questionnaire and valid responses came to 49.3%. As for results, 70.4% of them were in the state of 'dangerous outing', 33.7% had suffered injuries by collision or falling regardless of the degree of their visual impairments. Housebound were 42.4% and 21.2% were staying at home almost throughout the year. Housebound state was influenced by degree of impairment, ability of moving around and method of going out. Many persons with visual impairments repeated dangerous outing many times, and then with severe deterioration of visual function, moved to the state of housebound. 59.5% of house bound persons suffered from mental health problems. 80 % of their visual impairments were acquired. Only a small number of them had access to social welfare service and most of their needs remained latent. In addition, family support was not a strong facilitator for their safe outing. In conclusion, the actual conditions of their outing suggest the necessity to develop a community support system for them.
