Page 5 - Cahier-Pratical- Low-Vision-De-2014.indd

Introduction Certain ocular conditions, frequently of a degenerative nature, cannot be treated. They often lead to poor vision and sometimes to blindness. This impaired vision can lead to handicaps for the person in every aspect of their life, reducing effciency in everyday activities, increasing the risk of falls or accidents and cutting them off, little by little, from any social, cultural and sometimes even family life... This adds a real human problem to the sight loss. Faced with this situation, we can only place our hope in research and medical progress to improve the comfort of people affected by such Introduction distressing conditions. However, in spite of the considerable progress made in recent years, there are still no solutions for a permanent cure. Today, rehabilitation for people with sight loss remains essential if they are to retain a certain quality of life and continue to carry out some of their activities independently. The Specialists in Low Vision play an essential role in this rehabilitation process. Their task is to optimise the quality of the person’s retinal image and offer them vision aids appropriate to their visual condition, the tasks that they wish to accomplish and the conditions in which they carry them out. They work in close conjunction with the various parties involved in the rehabilitation process. Visually impaired people are more numerous than ever... Since degenerative ocular conditions most often develop with age, the number of visually impaired people continues to grow. With life expectancy having increased over the last decades, the number of people affected by age-related macular degeneration, for example, is growing rapidly. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers that, in European countries, one person in four is affected over the age of 75, which represents a large population. ...but too few practitioners concern themselves with Low Vision Today, too few professionals provide a low vision service, although it is essential to the population. The reasons most often cited are the technical complexity, the time that has to be devoted to it, the cost of equipment and the low proftability. We should pause for a moment and consider all these frequently heard ideas. Practical Low Vision • Determining the vision aid required by a partially sighted person does indeed require real “know-how”. But adequate training allows the necessary skills to be acquired. • Providing service to visually impaired person takes time because of the lengthy, but essential, communication process and the time required for the person to adapt to the various constraints resulting from their visual condition and the new aptitudes to be acquired. This time is quite similar to that devoted to adapting contact lenses. • The cost of vision aids is a point often raised by visually impaired people. However, before considering sophisticated and costly equip- ment, we should remember that there are numerous simple aids that are effective and economical, if well chosen. • The proftability of the low vision activity is an important concept. Admittedly, an initial investment is necessary but it should be consi- dered in the light of the signifcant future growth potential that the activity presents. We should also mention that, where the Low Vision Specialists develop a positive image as a practitioner with a high level of technical capability in low vision, this will undeniably make a positive impact across their entire business. Finally, if there is a feld where Eye Care Professionals can assert themselves as real eyesight and health professionals, it is indeed the low vision area. It is an opportunity for valuable contacts with other health professionals and an opportunity to work with them to achieve a noble purpose: that of helping visually impaired people, most often the elderly, to “see better to live better”. The purpose of this “Practical Low Vision” Ophthalmic Optics File is to assist professionals who wish to start a low vision activity or perfect their skills in this feld. It presents a method of rehabilitating visually impaired patients, proven over more than twenty years of practice and training. This method, simple and pragmatic, allows a great majority of people to regain a certain level of independence and the enjoyment of “doing things for themselves”. While this File does not pretend to deal with all aspects of rehabilitation for visually impaired people in an exhaustive manner, it does seek to provide eye care professionals with the basic knowledge necessary and essential for specialising in the feld of low vision correction. More simply, it seeks to make a contribution towards creating ever greater interest in the practice of low vision treatment and to give rise, among eye care practitioners, to more and more vocations and motivation to serve and help visually impaired people. 5 Copyright © 2013 ESSILOR ACADEMY EUROPE, 13 rue Moreau, 75012 Paris, France - All rights reserved – Do not copy or distribute. Copyright © 2013 ESSILOR ACADEMY EUROPE, 13 rue Moreau, 75012 Paris, France - All rights reserved – Do not copy or distribute.