Low Vision Rehabilitation Can Help People With Low Vision To Make The Best Of Their Eyesight
February is Low Vision Awareness Month and a time to talk about vision rehabilitation and its importance in improving low vision patients’ quality of life. Millions of people are affected by vision impairment -including low vision- among them are many older adults. Vision impaired people have difficulty reading, shopping, or cooking. Patients may think that low vision can be corrected by standard treatments (reading glasses, eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery) and people can have a normal life. However, the truth is that patients with low vision may not have sufficient eyesight to conduct daily activities. Vision rehabilitation can help low-vision patients to stay independent and make most of their sight.
Vision rehabilitation allows rebuilding and reinforcement of the visual foundation. Vision rehabilitation increases both physical and psychological health as well as improvement of patients’ functional abilities, quality of life, adaptation with greater continued use of low vision devices, and improvement of distance and near vision. Vision rehabilitation consists of the identification of goals, introduction to assistive devices, and training.
During vision rehabilitation sessions, patients learn how to manage daily activities such as:
- adapting the home for safety and navigation
- improving lighting conditions
- preparing meals
- labeling medications, clothing, and appliances
- writing
- keeping financial records
- personal grooming
- using magnifiers for easier reading
Vision rehabilitation specialists work closely with the patient and take him through a series of steps that begin with evaluating the patient’s current eyesight and what they are trying to accomplish with the patient. A complete comprehensive exam is conducted to obtain a visual assessment. Patients then follow a scheduled rehabilitation training throughout a period of time. Environmental modifications will be required especially for People with moderate to severe visual loss along with additional experience with low vision devices and technology to help maximize their vision. The client will learn that magnification of both near and distant images can improve visual function in nearly everyone with central vision loss.
- Identify exactly what daily activities the client wants to accomplish.
- Analyze the client’s fine and gross motor skills to confirm his or her ability to operate the low vision devices.
- Determine which eye is dominant.
- Determine whether monocular or binocular vision would be better.
- Determine whether the client would benefit from practicing eccentric (off-center) viewing.
- Determine if illuminated magnifiers are necessary.