Caring for someone who is vision impaired
Marissa Sandler is the CEO and co-founder of Careseekers. Previously a social justice lawyer and researcher for over 15 years, Marissa is passionate about helping people live with dignity and finding innovative solutions to problems.
There are over 575,000 people who are blind or vision impaired currently living in Australia, with more than 70 per cent over the age of 65 and over 66,000 people who are blind.
With stats like this it is highly possible that you may find yourself caring for a loved one whose vision starts to decrease and may unfortunately become legally blind. Here is some information that you will help you care for a person with vision loss from the beginning stages of their diagnosis.
Look for the symptoms of deteriorating eyesight
It is quite common that a person will hide their poor eyesight from loved ones, they may be embarrassed, in denial or are scared of losing their independence.
Look out for physical symptoms including:
- Constant red eyes
- Pain in the eyes
- Blurring vision
- Sudden temporary loss of vision
- Floaters
Other symptoms could be a sign of vision problems including
- Depression and anxiety
- Not wanting to go out, especially at night
- Nervous behavior in public or crowded places
Start with a conversation about sight
As soon as you think a loved one is having problems seeing it is very important that you start to talk about it. You need to have conversations about their sight often as it will be constantly changing. Make sure you are aware of what they can and cannot see. Check in with them every few months to see what has changed.
Make the living environment as safe as possible
Use the Careseekers Home Safety Checklist and do an audit on each room in the house. Specific things you should do in a home for someone with poor eyesight include:
- Making sure the home is free of clutter and unnecessary items, especially in thoroughfares.
- Make sure lighting is good throughout the house, especially on staircases.
- Light switches are at the top and bottom of the staircases.
- There are night lights, as well as easy to reach bedside lights in bedrooms.
- Arrangement of furniture and large items is consistent throughout the home, so that the layout is always familiar. The same for regularly used items in every room in the home.
A few more helpful tips
Vision Australia is the go to organization for information for anyone suffering vision loss. Here are some general tips from them for day to day interactions with people with vision loss.
- Address people who are blind or have low vision by their names so they know you are speaking to them.
- When entering a room let the person who is blind or have low vision know that you have arrived.
- Do not walk away from a person who is blind or have low vision without indicating that you are doing so - it is embarrassing and frustrating to talk to thin air.
- In dangerous situations say "STOP" rather than "LOOK OUT"
- Do not fill glasses or cups to the brim.
- When directing people use ordinary language and when describing be specific. Do not point, or say "over there". Direct people who are blind or have low vision to their left and right, not yours.
- When talking, don’t be embarrassed to use the words "look" and "see"; they are part of everyone's vocabulary.
- Describe the surroundings and obstacles in a person's pathway (remember to look up as well as down). Warn of the presence of over-hangs, such as kitchen cupboards, jutting side mirrors of cars, or trees.
- When seating people who are blind or have low vision, put their hands on the back of the chair and they will then be able to seat themselves.