Older Adults Recently Diagnosed with Age-Related Vision Loss: Readjusting to Everyday Life

Low vision rehabilitation over the course of a year: The experiences and feelings of elderly people with visual impairments

“…The hope that vision will no longer deteriorate or eye disease will not lead to complete blindness so that survival in everyday life will not get any more difficult was also expressed by many. Again, we may relate our findings to those of Magnus and Vik, [19] who studied elderly people recently diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration and found similar perceptions of fear of more extensive vision loss that would threaten independence and reduce activity in everyday life.…”

“…Elderly might express only a few demands for support if they are told by a doctor that their vision could not be improved. [19] Practical help with assistive devices and technology makes for an exception, [19] which was also seen in this material. Expectations related to LVR showed clear hopes for positive rehabilitation outcomes, such as major improvement in eye health status, and for it to answer the need for information concerning services and support.…”

“…Previous research supports this confident assertion by noting that better lighting significantly improves the quality of life of elderly people with VI, and that good lighting contributes to the ability to carry out daily activities. [28] Reading is vital in everyday life activities both at home and in its surroundings, [19] and the ability to read with the help of optical aids was seen as important. The participants who were using an electronic magnifying reader considered it as a particularly good visual aid.…”

“…[18] Future research needs base on knowledge of elderly people readjusting to everyday life after a recent diagnosis of vision loss, and call for implementation of knowledge in rehabilitation programs at municipality level at the early stages of vision loss. [19] In the light of the previous patchy research concerning LVR and the gaps in our knowledge that remain, this study is important for Western societies as a whole; there is a definite urgency for us to consider ways to improve the functional capacity of aging populations and to mitigate as far as possible the negative effects of aging. Policy objectives and the preferences of elderly people to "age in place" coincide in that they refer to people being able to stay at home and in a familiar neighborhood by adapting to changing needs and conditions that occur as people age.…”

Acceptance and adjustment: A qualitative study of experiences of hearing and vision impairments and daily life among oldest old recipients of home care

“…Difficulty reading regular print has previously been described as a threat to leisure time and well‐being in later life (Ryan & Bernard, ). Magnus and Vik () found that reading, among groups of Canadian and Norwegian old people, was just as important after as it was before they experienced reduced vision.…”