PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Help Desk

Living With Low Vision

■ Lighthouse International's new consumer kit, "Living Better at Home: A Guide for People With Vision Loss," is poised to help the burgeoning numbers of Americans who are vulnerable to eye diseases and low vision linked to age or to diabetes.

"According to a Lighthouse International survey in the United States, 16.5 million people 45 years of age and older self-report some form of vision impairment, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses," says Tara A. Cortes, R.N., Ph.D., the organization's president and chief executive officer. "By 2010, this figure is expected to grow to 20 million."

The kit, which she says will assist low-vision patients in living safer and more independent lives, consists of four inserts that address various aspects of living with low vision. The free kit offers up-to-date information on age-related eye diseases, caring for aging eyes, treatment options and the role of vision rehabilitation specialists. It also includes a signature guide and adhesive-backed touch dots for marking.

Online videos, available at www.lighthouse.org/livingbetterathome, demonstrate how low-vision patients can safely prepare and cook food, as well as use appliances. Tips include marking frequently used settings on appliances such as microwave ovens and washer/dryers with bright nail polish or touch dots, using large-print or color-coded labels on medications and arranging clothing by color. Online lessons provide step-by-step instruction.

The Living Better at Home materials on the Web site are also free of charge and can be accessed by anyone, with no membership required. The kit was created with an unrestricted grant from Genentech Inc.

Lighthouse says it has recently launched an outreach to doctors about the kit. "Part of the problem was that we were trying to get patients in all the time when really it's a matter of reaching out to the doctors and saying, 'We can do something for your patients with low vision,'" a Lighthouse representative explains. "We're the extra step when your doctor can't help you and there is no surgery or contact lenses — we can help patients find devices that will at least improve their lives. That's our key message to get out to doctors." OM