When our loved ones experience vision loss, you might want to know how you can help them get back to doing the things they love. With poor eyesight, even the most basic daily activities can become a challenge. This can affect your elderly family member’s physical and emotional health.
The following strategies can help seniors deal with the emotional and practical challenges of vision loss. As a result, your loved one can maintain their sense of independence, and you can rest assured that they can cope at home.
Help Your Loved One Navigate Vision Loss Emotionally
Navigating vision loss can have an impact on your loved one’s mental and emotional health. Older adults experiencing vision loss may report increased feelings of loneliness, helplessness and even depression. Learn how to help them navigate these challenges:
Talk It Out
If you haven’t already, it is important to open the dialogue with your loved one about their vision loss. Around one in four U.S. adults with vision loss experiences anxiety or depression. The earlier you intervene and help a family member, the more you can protect their mental well-being.
Sit down with your loved one and use these pointers to talk through their vision loss:
- Be direct.
- Tell them that you’ve noticed that they don’t see as well as they used to.
- Acknowledge that you want to help.
- Ask them how best you can help them.
- Consider how you can help your loved one stay independent.
- Be mindful of pushing the conversation, keep it open-ended ended and be an active listener.
- Ask them if they’re comfortable sharing how they’re feeling.
Encourage Self-Care
Self-care tips can help a senior with poor vision cope better with the impact of coming to terms with their condition.
Try some of the following ideas:
- Mindfulness techniques: Help your loved one tune in with how they’re feeling and be more accepting of their vision loss.
- Exercise: Keep your family member moving to boost their mood and help them feel calmer.
- Sleep habits: A good night’s sleep can bolster your loved one’s resilience with daily activities.
- Hobbies: Explore tweaks and alternatives to ensure your loved one can keep enjoying their favorite pastimes.
Use the Five Stages of Grief to Guide You
Using the five stages of grief model is one way of helping your loved one understand their feelings about their vision loss:
- Denial: Your loved one may deny that they are struggling with their eyesight. Or they may falsely believe their vision loss will cure itself.
- Anger: This stage is characterised by frustration and outbursts at friends, family members and even the doctor who diagnosed your loved one’s sight loss.
- Bargaining: Your family member may use “if only” statements to wish they’d done something sooner about their vision.
- Depression: At this stage, your loved one may feel down about the things they cannot do anymore and may need extra motivation to carry out daily chores and self-care.
- Acceptance: Your loved one accepts their vision loss and finds healthy ways of dealing with the challenges it raises.
Practical Tips to Help the Elderly With Bad Eyesight
Along with supporting your loved one’s mental health, you can also help them deal with the practical and logistical challenges of vision loss:
Keep up With Eye Checks
Make sure your loved one continues attending checkups with their eye doctor. This way, the doctor can monitor any changes in your family member’s vision. They may also be able to give professional advice on how safe it is for your loved one to carry out certain activities, such as driving. An eye doctor can also check that your loved one has the correct glasses prescription.
Some causes of poor vision in the elderly, such as age-related macular degeneration, can be treated to prevent their worsening.
Use Vision Aids
There are many types of vision aids that your loved one can use to help with bad eyesight. Some aids are more effective for certain conditions and help with different tasks. These include:
- Magnifying lenses: These help small things look much bigger, which can aid reading and more fiddly household tasks. These come in many forms, such as handheld or around the neck.
- Anti-glare glasses: Reducing glare from bright lights and reflective surfaces can help a senior with vision loss by increasing comfort and making it easier for them to concentrate on the task at hand.
- Use a smartphone or tablet: Many apps are available so your loved one can use their mobile or tablet’s camera to enlarge things or read out text.
- Enlarged text: Many everyday items, such as wall clocks and books, have larger text options that can be easier to read for those with vision loss.
Adapt Your Home
Organizing your loved one’s home can help them move around and find things more easily. This reduces stress and makes it safer for them to live independently.
Also consider:
- Decluttering: By clearing any loose items from high-traffic areas, you can reduce the likelihood of falls.
- Repositioning furniture: Move chairs near windows so your loved one can read or do crafts more easily.
- Upgrading lighting: Older adults need more light to perform routine tasks, so add extra table and floor lamps where appropriate and swap out old bulbs for brighter LED ones.
- Checking contrasts: Think about how color and texture contrasts can help your loved one locate important items more easily. For example, you could install illuminated light switches so they stand out more clearly from the wall.
- Smart home devices: Smart assistants can aid in everyday tasks like sending messages and making calls. Seniors may also appreciate being able to control their music and television using their voice instead of small buttons on a remote.
Orientation and Mobility Training
Reaching out to specialist training providers can help your loved one better navigate their home independently, improve their safety and increase their quality of life. Orientation training encourages your family member to use all their other senses to explore their surroundings. Mobility training also helps your loved one get from one place to another and includes the use of walking aids.
Consider Professional In-Home Care
Another way to help your loved one with vision loss is to hire a professional family caregiving service as an extra pair of trusting hands. They can lighten the load by doing the laundry or the washing up, for example.
A professional caregiver could also provide some much-needed companionship for your loved one with vision loss. Even if you are away from your family member, visits from a caregiver can keep your loved one company and prevent feelings of isolation or lonliness. From a safety perspective, a caregiver can also reduce hazards from falls and call for help in case of an emergency.
How Village Caregiving Can Help Your Loved One Navigate Vision Loss
The impact of vision loss can profoundly affect your loved one’s life. Catering to your family member’s emotional and practical needs at this time is really important for helping them feel comfortable and safe in their homes. It may be beneficial to reach out to a trusted family caregiver provider so you can make sure your loved one is fully supported.
Our family caregivers at Village Caregiving work alongside your loved one to provide bespoke support to address their needs, including helping seniors with poor vision. With over 65 locations across the United States, Village Caregiving is the largest privately owned home care agency in the country. We will go the extra step to make sure your loved one is well cared for. Reach out today to learn more.
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