macular degeneration, macular, diagnosis practical tips – My Macular Degeneration Journey/Journal

Freedom Friday: Help Yourself and Others Remain Independent – Part 1

Lin/Linda: Freedom Friday was the second day of a trial run in the Facebook group of topic-of-the-day discussions to encourage members to participate.

Excerpts from the article How to Make Life Easier and Safer for Seniors with Low Vision.

The article ends with this but I think it’s worth reading it first:

“Seniors and others with low vision often worry that sight impairments will affect their ability to live independently. Put your loved one at ease by suggesting resources that will allow them to remain independent, and help them implement the tips above to improve their ability to complete day-to-day tasks on their own.”

Keeping an Eye on Visual Health

Caregivers can help keep tabs on a loved one’s vision by looking for an increase in:

  • Squinting or tilting their head when trying to focus.
  • Bumping into things or knocking objects over.
  • Discontinuing everyday vision-based activities like reading or writing.
  • Missing objects when reaching for them.
  • Falling or walking hesitantly.

If a loved one is still driving, an increase in accidents and risky maneuvers may also indicate visual changes. It is important to discuss these noticeable changes with your loved one and make an eye appointment to ensure early detection and treatment of any eye diseases and prevent lasting damage.

Helping a Loved One Accept Visual Changes

“Many older adults believe that there is no way they can cope with this loss since it affects almost all aspects of daily life,” Rogers explains. “But, caregivers and persons with visual impairment need to know that there is hope, and life, after vision loss.”

Tips and Products for Helping a Senior with Low Vision
Good Lighting is Key
  • Keep surroundings well-lit but be mindful of glare.
  • Use specialized lamps/bulbs to increase contrast and reduce glare and cover reflective surfaces when possible.
  • Ensure that appropriate lighting is provided for all activities your loved one engages in. For example, direct task lighting is best for things like reading, playing cards or crafting.
  • Consider a small gooseneck or clip-on lamp for these tasks.
  • Under-counter lighting is another type that works well for illuminating the kitchen and other larger work areas.
  • Avoid large discrepancies in lighting, such as a bright lamp shining into a dark room.
  • As task lighting is increased, the surrounding room lighting should also be increased.
  • Keeping lights on during daytime hours helps to equalize lighting from both indoor and outdoor sources.
Take Steps to Minimize Fall Risks
  • Use nightlights in bedrooms, hallways and bathrooms to reduce the risk of tripping and falling at night.
  • Eliminate clutter and remove hazards such as throw rugs and electrical cords.
  • Consider replacing or relocating short or difficult to see furniture, such as a glass coffee or side table.
  • Create wide, clear and level walking paths that lead to all areas of the home for easy and safe navigation.
  • You may have to reposition some furnishings to make the home easier to navigate. This can be disorienting initially, so make sure to provide your loved one with extra assistance getting around until they have memorized the new layout.
  • Larger-scale rearrangements may be inadvisable for some seniors, especially those with memory issues.

Next: Freedom Friday: Help Yourself and Others Remain Independent – Part 2

News: July 12, 2016

Caution against ‘stem cell tourism’

 

 

 

Say “Cheese”!

I am starting to think we should all move to Wisconsin. Every time I go looking for something related to the support of the visually impaired I end up on a site supported by that fine state. The only problem with moving to Wisconsin, though, would be having to wear those cheese wedge hats. Hmmmm. Maybe I will pass on that move.

Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk wearing Cheesehead hat
Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk wearing Cheesehead hat

[Lin/Linda here: I suspect those of you who are outside the US are wondering about this, are you?]

Click here for more information about the term ‘cheesehead’ as used in Wisconsin.

 

 

I had gone looking for more practical life skill-ish stuff for coping. I have already done some psychological coping stuff. Add the lifestyle coping skills stuff to the DBT stuff and we have talked about emotional coping a fair amount. Probably will hit it again with mention of other DBT skills later.

But for now what about the practical stuff? The Health Department of Wisconsin published Tips for Living with Low Vision. The site is not only low vision friendly in content but also in format. Sentences are short. Fonts are large. Lots of white space.

Topics range from brushing your teeth to sewing. I am not having trouble putting toothpaste on a brush yet and I don’t sew. My junior high home economics teacher took care of that when she made me rip out a seam in my project seven – count them! Seven!- times. No, I do not sew.

What I do do, and seem to do more since having my visual impairment, is plug things in. Or to be more accurate, I attempt to plug things in. Better than half the time the outlet is in a corner, in the dark, behind the furniture, etc.

Once I find the outlet I then have the chore of deciding which end is up! I twist plugs around until they are dizzy.

The website suggests using contrast and bright colors in order to find the outlet in the first place. The site also suggests plugging in the plug should be a two-handed job. One hand holds the plug while the other hand outlines the outlet. Not sure those instructions will solve my problem with outlets but the suggestions are worth a try. [Here’s a tip from our Occupational Therapy consultant (bottom of linked page): for difficult-to-access wall plugs, get a power strip and plug it into the wall. It should have a cord long enough so that you can put it where you can easily access it next time.  The plus side of this is that you’ll have extra outlets/plugins.]

Check out the website for a number of other helpful suggestions. It appears the good people of Wisconsin do a lot for us low vision folks. If you know a Cheese head, thank him….and try to ignore the hat ?

Continue reading “Say “Cheese”!”