The first-time guide dog-person partnership: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Abstract

Purpose: The diverse benefits of the guide dog service for people with impaired vision have been widely described. However, research has tended not to discriminate between the perspectives of first-time service recipients and recurring clients. This study aims to gain a detailed understanding of first-time guide dog-person partnership.

Material and methods: Eleven participants took part in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Interview accounts were processed and analyzed following the approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results: Three recurrent themes were identified. "Inconsistency and unpredictability" captures participants' early uneasiness and insecurity in responding to their dog partners' occasional guiding mistakes. "The demand of managing control" highlights the participants taking up dynamic and sometimes conflicting positions of control in relation to their dog partners. "Stepping into an acquired sensibility toward the guide dog" addresses the empathetic and embodied openness toward the dog partners that the participants come to experience with the advancement of the partnership.

Conclusion: The participants' perspectives reflect that working/walking with a guide dog is neither a generic phenomenon nor an overnight achievement. Rather, the partnership entails continuous and somewhat personalized adjustment by individual participants as they navigate the unique challenges and conflicts associated with the working partnership.