A Qualitative Study of the Barriers to and Factors Enabling Sport Participation for People with Sight Loss from Ethnically Diverse Communities in the UK

Kris Southby (), Tim Bidey, Louis Horsley, Mahda Rashid, Ogo-Oluwa Oluleye, Coco Tas, Eden Foley, Grace Evans and Lucy Smith
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Kris Southby: Centre for Health Promotion Research, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK
Tim Bidey: Independent Researcher, Brighton BN3 3PN, UK
Louis Horsley: IFF Research, London SE1 0HR, UK
Mahda Rashid: Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Ogo-Oluwa Oluleye: Independent Researcher, London SG1 4FW, UK
Coco Tas: Independent Researcher, Brighton BN2 6WF, UK
Eden Foley: Accent MR, London E1W 9US, UK
Grace Evans: Thinks Insight & Strategy, London WC2R 1LA, UK
Lucy Smith: Independent Researcher, West Kirby CH48 7HJ, UK

Disabilities, 2025, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: There is a growing body of evidence regarding the barriers to participation in sport for people with sight loss and for people from ethnically diverse communities. However, far less is known about the experience of people with sight loss who are also from ethnically diverse communities. Semi-structured interviews with people with lived experience and focus groups with civil society organisations that work with people with sight loss in the UK were undertaken. The aim was to explore how issues concerning ethnicity, culture, and heritage overlap with sight loss to affect sport participation. This research found that the intersecting occurrences of sight loss and ethnicity/cultural factors, as well as other socio-demographic factors like gender, compound and exacerbate the barriers to sport participation for people with sight loss from ethnically diverse communities. Further research is needed in different settings to unpack the heterogeneity related to sight loss, ethnicity, and sport.

Keywords: visual impairment; sight loss; blind; sport; physical activities; participation; ethnicity; culture; intersectionality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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