Second Life and Access for the Disabled and Homebound

Internet technology has opened up new vistas for the creation of communities in virtual environment. Research is beginning to emerge that focuses on the use of virtual communities in areas such as e-learning and the potential for use of virtual worlds for both therapy and community building for individuals who are disabled, homebound, and isolated. Second Life, which is a product individuals can join free of charge, has the potential to function as a tool to help care managers and others to work with disabled and homebound individuals in the process of creating social interaction. This article explores Second Life and offers some suggestions for future research in this area.Keywords: virtual worlds; disability; homebound; access; Second LifeRecent research on the use of the Internet as a tool for assist- ing those who face challenges with mobility has started exploring virtual worlds, such as Second Life (SL), as a way to enter into contexts of social interaction. In an earlier study, Jarmon, Traphagan, Traphagan, and Eaton (2009) found that homebound individuals can develop meaningful contexts of social interaction by participating in virtual communities such as SL. One of the participants in their study had become homebound following a serious automobile accident. He was able to participate as a full-time tour guide for NASA's CoLab virtual community in SL and had also begun to involve himself in virtual spaces where he could "dance" with others-virtually-and, through that, con- nect with people not simply in his immediate community but also around the world. SL provided him with a means by which to participate in an active social life, which had been closed to him following his accident.There is a growing literature on the use of Internet resources for various health- and care-related activities, such as in accessing health information (Xie, Wang, Feldman, & Zhou, 2013) or on attitudes about social media among older adults (Xie, Watkins, Golbeck, & Huang, 2012). However, research on virtual worlds as a means for community building, particularly among those who are homebound or even bed-ridden, has been limited to date. Research specifically focused on SL has explored some of the pos- sibilities of SL use by people with disabilities. Carr (2010) used interview data with deaf users to explore how SL can function as a form of e-learning and notes that, like in real-world interac- tions, power relationships can be involved in accessibility support in e-learning environments. Stewart, Hansen, and Carey (2010) focus on the benefits which disabled users of SL can gain in terms of information and community membership. The authors note that participating in a virtual world environment such as SL can improve quality of life for those with disabilities and "enhance their physical, emotional, and social adjustment." They also note that nurses and care managers working with patients who need rehabili- tation, face chronic illness, or are homebound may find ways to use SL as a therapeutic tool. Other work has focused on topics such as the use of SL for treatment of social anxiety disorders (Yuen et al., 2013) and the creation of inclusive designs to eliminate barriers for SL and other virtual environment use for users with disabilities (Smith, 2011). Research has also been done focusing on creating places for people with cognitive disabilities such as autism and on creating methods for working with those with education disabili- ties (Fusar-Poli, Cortesi, Borgwardt, & Politi, 2008).Despite this work, the research on the use of SL as a tool in the overall process of care management for homebound individuals and those more generally with disabilities remains in its early stage of development. In this article, our aim is to raise questions that demand further attention from researchers. We also offer a brief introduction for care managers, caregivers, and the homebound about SL as a context for creating community for those who are homebound or have limited mobility and, as a result, have dif- ficulties in access contexts for the creation of social interaction and community. …