Research Report Prepared By Gravitas Research and Strategy Ltd And Market Economics Ltd
The Cost of Blindness in New Zealand
Final Report
Prepared For The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
24th December 2004

Read The Cost of Blindness in New Zealand online by following the links below, or download the report. The report and its appendices are available as PDF, Microsoft Word (.doc) files or large print PDFs. A formatted braille (.brf) version will be available soon.

The Cost of Blindness (.pdf, 1.2 MB)
The Cost of Blindness Appendices (.pdf, 648.9 kB)

The Cost of Blindness (Word, 1.5 MB)
The Cost of Blindness Appendices (Word, 1.0 MB)

The Cost of Blindness (large print) (.pdf, 962.2 kB)
The Cost of Blindness Appendices (large print) (.pdf, 632.6 kB)

The Cost of Blindness in New Zealand

Everyone involved in the blindness community knows that being blind or vision-impaired is expensive for individuals, families and society - page in actual costs, time costs and opportunity costs.

But determining the cost of blindness is like asking how long a piece of string is. No-one anywhere in the world has come up with the perfect, undisputed research on the cost of blindness. It is just too complex.

Against that backdrop, we are delighted to make public the most comprehensive research ever done in New Zealand on the Cost of Blindness. This research was conducted by Gravitas Research and Strategy Ltd and Market Economics Ltd. Further analysis was done by Dr Jonathan Godfrey, Lecturer in Statistics, Massey University, and graduate student Deborah Brunning. Both reports are available on our website and in accessible formats through our library.

As I mentioned above, no research on the cost of blindness is perfect. Budget constraints meant our research included interviews with 200 of our approximately 11,500 members. Because of this relatively small sampling, care must be taken in "over-interpreting" the results, or extrapolating them onto other groups. Total figures in the "Gravitas" report cannot be used to derive a meaningful average cost per individual blind person - the range of actual incurred costs is simply too wide. Finally, the Gravitas research focuses on actual costs of blindness, not opportunity costs.

The RNZFB and the Association of Blind Citizens (NZ) Inc will use this ground-breaking research to inform Government and other stakeholders. It is our fervent hope that others build on this research over time, so that the world can improve its understanding of the myriad and enormous costs of the unique disability that is blindness.

Paula Daye
CEO
Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

1. Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Research Objectives 1

2. Research Methodology 3
2.1 Examining the Costs of Blindness 3
2.2 Responses to the Research Challenges 5
2.3 Definitions Used 6
2.4 Research Methodology 8
2.5 Survey Data Analysis 12
2.6 Methodology Limitations 13
2.7 Report Structure 16

3. Literature Review 17
3.1 Introduction 17
3.2 Defining "Costs of Blindness" 17
3.3 Previous Costs of Blindness Studies 18
3.4 Individual Costs of Blindness 19
3.5 Societal Costs of Blindness 23

4. Welfare Benefits And The Vision Impaired 25
4.1 Welfare for the Blind - Historical Overview 25
4.2 Current Benefits Available 27
4.3 Provision and Economic Cost of Benefits Provided 28

5. Epidemiology 37
5.1 Introduction 37
5.2 Final Estimates of New Zealand Blind and Vision impaired Populations (June 2004) 38
5.3 Projections of New Zealand Blind and Vision impaired Populations(2011 and 2021) 39

6. Education And Training Costs 44
6.1 Education Status 44
6.2 Individual Costs 46
6.3 Society Costs - Education Related Subsidies, Services and Benefits 50

7. Employment 56
7.1 Economic and Employment Status of the Disabled 56
7.2 Economic and Employment Status of the Blind and Vision impaired 56
7.3 Barriers to Employment 58
7.4 Financial Costs of Employment 58
7.5 Opportunity Costs Related to Employment 59
7.6 Individual Costs 60
7.7 Society Costs - Employment Related Subsidies, Services and Benefits 65

8. Daily Living 69
8.1 Communication 69
8.2 Domestic and Personal Tasks 79
8.3 Shopping 84
8.4 Housing 88
8.5 Recreation Activities 91
8.6 Voluntary Work 96

9. Transport And Mobility 101
9.1 Individual Costs 101
9.2 Societal Costs of Transport Related Benefits and Subsidies 106

10. Social Costs Of Blindness 111
10.1 Introduction 111

11. Medical, Assessment And Service Provision Costs 114
11.1 Individual Costs 114
11.2 Annual Numbers Seeking Treatment 119
11.3 Ministry of Health Costs for DHB Ophthalmology Services 123
11.4 Pharmaceutical Management Agency Subsidies for Eye Related Drugs 126
11.5 Disability Support Services 126

12. Support And Services Not Available 130
12.1 Support Not Obtainable 130

13. Economic Costs Of Other Service Provision 132
13.1 RNZFB Services 132
13.2 Postal Concession 132
13.3 Other Services 133

14. Cost Summary Tables 134

15. References 138

Appendices

1. Epidemology - Estimates of the Blind and Vision Impaired Popuation 1
1.1 Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Membership Database 1
1.2 Statistics New Zealand Disability Survey 2001 7
1.3 Vision Education Agency National Database for Learners who are Blind and Vision-impaired 19

2. Survey Respondent Demographics 22

3. Average Cost for the Blind/Vision Impaired Individual 24

4. Key Informant Interview Schedule 26

5. Focus Group Recruitment Script 28

6. Focus Group Participants 30

7. Focus Group Interview Schedule 31

8. Costs Of Blindess Survey Recruiment Script 42

9. RNZFB Costs of Blindness Survey 45

10. Benefits and Assistance 91
1.4 Work and Income New Zealand 91
1.5 Accident Compensation 94

11. Equipment Cost Estimates and Averages 98
1.6 Communication Equipment 98
1.7 Computer Software 99
1.8 Braille Equipment 99
1.9 Other Equipment 99