Heliyon (Sep 2024)
Formation of communicative competence of massage therapists with visual impairments: A research study
Abstract
Background: Communicative competence for massage therapists with visual impairments is an important aspect in ensuring their successful integration into the profession and society. However, visually impaired massage therapists face numerous barriers to effective communication during their education, hiring process, and professional employment. Aim: To study why communicative competence is important for students with visual impairments; to research features of communication of persons with visual impairments; to identify barriers and effective strategies for formation of communicative competence in the educational process. Design: A qualitative descriptive study with focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Settings: Higher education institution in Lviv (Ukraine) offering a nursing programme for students with visual impairments. Participants: Three groups of respondents, namely visually impaired alumni of Lviv Medical Academy, Ukraine (n = 6), alumni's employers and co-workers (n = 4), and experts in the education of visually impaired persons (n = 11), participated in the research. Methods: Two focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic coding was used to analyze transcripts. Results: Five themes arose: significance of communication for nurse massage therapists with visual impairments; features of communication of persons with visual impairments; barriers to communication of persons with visual impairments; tools and approaches to improve communicative competence of massage therapists with visual impairments; ineffective methods in teaching communication to visually impaired students. Conclusions: Communication barriers faced by visually impaired nursing students include isolation in specialized institutions, parental hypervigilance, and the challenge of establishing eye contact, which impedes reading nonverbal cues. To enhance communicative competence, it is essential to implement interactive teaching methods, involve students in various activities, ensure educational accessibility, and adopt an individualized and empathetic approach. Both inclusive and special education have advantages and disadvantages. It is recommended to advocate for a “reasonable accommodation” model to ensure high-quality education for visually impaired massage therapists.
