Functional Impairment and Visual Loss

Abstract

Low vision can impact independence, the sense of well-being, and activities of daily living in older patients. The visual loss can affect the lives of elderly patients in complex and complicated ways beyond the loss of vision alone. A comprehensive and holistic approach to both low-vision rehabilitation and training in the elderly may result in improvements in both function and sense of control. Timely and appropriate referrals for low-vision optical devices and occupational therapy-based low-vision rehabilitation are critical to improve functional independence in affected elders. The eye care professional should strive to treat the whole patient, not just the eye pathology, and should counsel the patient and caregivers about the complex interrelationship of vision loss to loss of independence and other comorbidities (e.g., anxiety or depression). Low-vision interventions can result in improvement not just in visual function but overall daily functioning and individual sense of well-being.