What is Vision Loss for Seniors?
With age, many people notice changes in their eyes and vision. Older adults may also experience unusual conditions that cause their eyes to stop working like they should. Many of these eye problems often get worse over time if left untreated.
The conditions that cause most cases of vision loss in seniors are age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, ocular complications of diabetes mellitus, and age-related cataracts.
Seniors may develop other eye conditions like age-related farsightedness, astigmatism, dry eyes, nearsightedness, flashes of light, retinal detachment, and watery eyes.
Vision loss can be an upsetting development for anyone at any age, especially for seniors. This article outlines the prevalence of visual impairments in seniors, as well as tips and tools to enhance seniors’ quality of life despite changes in vision.
How Common are Visual Impairments in Seniors?
Visual impairment affects over a quarter of seniors aged 71+, with at least 10% of older US adults having distance visual acuity and contrast sensitivity judgment and more than 20% having near visual impairment.
How Can Vision Loss Impact Seniors?
Vision loss can contribute significantly toward several challenges for seniors. Individuals with visual impairments are more likely to experience restrictions in their independence, mobility, and cognitive ability.
On top of this, seniors with visual impairment issues are subject to an increased risk of falls, fractures, injuries, cognitive defects, social isolation, and mental health issues.
Improving Quality of Life for Seniors with Vision Loss
Though visual impairments come with challenges, there are steps that seniors with vision loss can take to minimize risk and maximize life. Finding the right resources, tools, and support systems is essential to taking back control of your life and maintaining independence in the face of visual impairment.
Adapting Your Home for Vision Loss
One thing you can do to accommodate your vision needs is to adapt your home to make it more vision-friendly. This can be done by:
- Decluttering the house to reduce the risk of tripping
- Organizing easier passageways around the house to make moving around more accessible
- Setting up better lighting inside and outside
- Reducing glare throughout the house to make it easier to see
- Accentuating contrasts throughout the home with tape or paint to make locating things easier
Caregivers or family members can ensure the above steps are covered to ensure their loved ones or patients are safe at home to relax and enjoy themselves.
Simple tasks such as making food, helping around the house, and pushing them closer to the TV are easy and can make a meaningful difference. The difference between a consequential fall and a nice day could be the access of a caregiver. Here at Florida Senior Consulting Advisors, we will help minimize the risk associated with a lack of caregivers and a cluttered household.
Technology for Seniors with Vision Loss
Another advancement in society that has helped elderly patients with vision issues is technology. Smartphone apps such as Seeing AI and Being My Eyes can be a huge help for those with vision loss:
- Seeing AI app: An artificial intelligence application that uses the phone camera to see objects and then audibly describes those objects for visually impaired seniors.
- Be My Eyes app: Acts as a connector between visually impaired seniors and volunteers. With this tool, volunteers can help a visually impaired senior navigate daily tasks that can be challenging with vision loss through live video and artificial intelligence.
Other software tools that add to the long list of products readily available for visually impaired seniors include:
- Digital magnifiers: Visual aids that offer high definition, wide magnification, and higher contrast capabilities than traditional magnifiers
- Talking clocks: An easy way for visually impaired individuals to tell the time
- Text-to-speech readers: Help magnify text on a screen so that it can be seen more easily or appeal to auditory sensors rather than visual ones. The text magnifiers are needed if a senior can still see, just not very well.
- Braille: If a senior is dealing with complete or near vision blindness, braille resources are necessary to function daily. This way, the visually impaired senior does not need to rely on their declining vision to function and can just rely on touch and hearing – two senses that can still allow for a functional and productive life.
Mobility Tips for Seniors With Visual Impairments
Mobility is another key factor for visually impaired seniors, especially in Florida. Another daily living tip is using guide dogs, canes, and other mobility enhancers.
Guide Dogs for Seniors
Also known as seeing-eye dogs, guide dogs are specifically trained to help people who are blind or visually impaired navigate their surroundings.
A guide dog has lots of benefits. One study surveyed 800 visually impaired participants and found increased independence, confidence, companionship, social interaction, and most importantly, mobility when using a guide dog.
Canes and Mobility Enhancers
While a guide dog may be the most effective mobility enhancer, at Florida Senior Consulting Advisors, we know everyone has different needs.
Mobility aids like canes and walkers can be useful tools to balance and avoid falling when visually impaired, something that can be very dangerous for seniors.
Other mobility tools such as GPS systems can help transcribe and translate for visually impaired seniors. For example, AIRA is a live, digital professional assistance service for people who have visual impairments. With this service, a professionally-trained agent will visually interpret what is in the camera’s view, including explaining, navigating, describing, and reading.
These products and services can provide a big boost to not only quantifiable vision statistics but also morale and mental health.
Vision Loss Support in Florida
It can be challenging to experience vision loss as a senior, which is why it is beneficial to reach out for support.
Therapy is always a viable option for anyone at any time. Speaking to someone openly and honestly is one of the best forms of self-help, and speaking to someone about the personal effects that vision loss has had on you is something that can help you move forward. Acceptance can be tough, but there is an entire world of support and love waiting for you.
Other organizations also provide much needed support, such as the American Foundation for the Blind, Florida Council of the Blind, and Preserve Vision Florida. These resources can provide support including vision education through articles and sites, scholarships, forums, support groups, and other resources for visually impaired seniors.
On top of this, Florida Senior Consulting Advisors helps connect seniors with appropriate resources that specifically fit the needs of each individual. This includes personalized recommendations for low-vision support groups among other resources.
Senior Living for Visually Impaired Seniors
While vision loss can be hard to accept, it doesn’t mean that your normal life needs to end. Support, resources, visually enhancing products, and more are all available to enhance your quality of life.
Florida Senior Consulting Advisors’ services are here to cater to you and your needs. A few steps in the right direction are all you need to take back the life that you want – and we are here to help you.
Contact Florida Senior Consulting Advisors for personalized help finding senior living communities with trained staff for visually impaired seniors. Call (800) 969-7176 or go to SeniorConsultingAdvisor.com for guidance.
