Low Vision Aids for Seniors: Tools and Resources to Improve Your Quality of Life
Age-related vision changes can bring difficulties to all aspects of your life, from minor everyday tasks like reading mail or checking the time, to more important safety elements, such as the ability to cook carefully and navigate around fall risks within the home. For many seniors, low vision — or permanent disabling vision loss arising from age-related conditions, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, among others — can harm your ability to remain independent and be safe in a home environment.
While low vision caused by the above eye diseases cannot be fully corrected with glasses, contact lenses or surgery, there are tools and resources designed to support those with low vision by answering common needs and, overall, help keep them safe at home for longer. Whether you’re a senior yourself or supporting the wellbeing of a loved one, continue reading for an overview of powerful assistive tools, how they’ll help low-vision seniors in their day-to-day lives and resources to help you navigate this phase of life.
Leveraging Digital Assistants for Support at Home
Did you know that some of the most important technology you already have at home contains features designed to assist those with different vision needs? Starting with our smartphones, the most popular digital device most of us carry daily, these pocket-sized supercomputers can help support seniors with low vision through:
· Customized displays – By accessing your phone’s settings, you can make beneficial changes that make it easier to see and understand what’s happening on your screen. These include things like increasing the font size and weight of all text to make it easier to read, turning on screen readers that describe aloud what’s happening, simplifying the user interface to make it easier to see and navigate, as well as always-on tools like the zoom function. Phone accessibility features vary by brand, so follow their specific guides — like these provided by Apple, Android and Cricket, among others — for the best assistance.
· Voice assistants – Since Siri, Apple’s famous voice assistant, was first integrated into its phones in 2011, it quickly changed smartphone accessibility for blind and low-vision users. Rather than the old ways of visual screen navigation or complex typing, something that can be difficult for those with vision impairments to do correctly and efficiently, it allowed all users to interact with their devices hands-free. This enabled tasks like placing a call and sending texts by saying a contact’s name and speaking a message, saying commands to set alarms and appointment reminders and even accessing general information online. With iPhones, Androids and Google Pixel devices all now boasting unique built-in digital assistants, often featuring additional abilities powered by artificial intelligence (AI), low-vision seniors can leverage these helpers to make life easier.
This next tool is not part of your smartphone but can be used to augment its assistive abilities and make its responses easier for those also struggling with hearing issues.
Smart home speakers, such as the Amazon Echo, Google Nest and HomePod are voice-activated loudspeakers with built-in virtual assistants.
These compact, Wi-Fi-enabled devices are a common sight in many homes, offering a simple way to get valuable reminders, keep track of to-do lists, listen to music and access information online. Some of them include large integrated screens that display important details and enable users to make and receive video calls. By connecting other devices, such as smart lights, thermostats and security systems, seniors can control important household functions solely by their voice, reducing the need for visual navigation.
While all these tools improve the quality of life for low-vision seniors, they do require a level of digital literacy that might be difficult for those unfamiliar with smartphones and similar devices. Setting up these electronic aids with a trusted friend, family member or customer service representative who can clearly see and enable accessibility settings ensures these tools are set up properly, reducing frustration and time-consuming mistakes.
Low-Tech Vision Aids
Now that we’ve covered how you can use tools of the digital age to improve your or your family members’ ability to navigate their low vision needs, let’s cover some simpler, but no less important, devices that can help improve quality of life.
Magnifiers
For many seniors, hand-held or desktop-sized magnifiers are an essential part of their low-vision toolkit. These devices use lenses or cameras to make text and images look larger. Handheld versions with an integrated light can make reading menus or labels easier. At the same time, stand magnifiers that sit over a page can help low-vision seniors continue to enjoy their lifelong reading habits as they age.
If you or your loved one is a senior who loves crafting or similar hobbies, using a hands-free device that is worn around the neck or clamped to a work table ensures participation in beloved activities for longer.
Home Lighting
The way the home is lighted can go a long way to making the space safer for low-vision seniors and others; according to the Macular Society, by the age of 60, we need three times more light compared to our 20s. Follow its lighting tips to help low-vision seniors, such as:
· Using several lights in a room instead of one bright overhead light; position them to ensure there are no dark corners or shadows where fall risks can hide.
· Leaving hall lights on during the day to improve navigation.
· Painting light switches a contrasting color to make the controls easier to find.
· Installing under-cupboard task lighting for ease of cooking and reading recipes or using gooseneck lamps to make it easier to read and craft.
Talking Aids
What if some of your most common home items could talk to you when a temperature has been reached, a time elapsed or a new interior temperature set? While this might seem like a concept out of Knight Rider or Star Trek, talking products for the blind or vision impaired have been around since 1877, when Thomas Edison first invented “phonograph books.”
The technology has come a long way since then, with talking microwaves, calculators, clocks, watches, thermometers, air fryers, bill identifiers, timers and more available on the market.
If the devices and tools mentioned in this article sound beneficial, you’re looking for an option not listed here or you need a different level of assistance, there are a variety of resources available from trusted organizations to help you or your loved one find the support they need. Some of these groups include:
· The Perkins School for the Blind
· The American Foundation for the Blind
· The American Academy of Ophthalmology
Low vision can change your way of life, but it shouldn’t mean you can no longer live independently or safely. For seniors and their loved ones struggling with low vision, there are a number of tools and organizations designed to support you as you navigate through this new stage of life. To find more information articles surrounding your changing eye health, visit healthyvisionassociation.com/articles.
Articles in this newsletter are supposed to be informative, enlightening and helpful to you. While all information contained herein is meant to be completely factual, it is always subject to change. Articles are not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Consult your doctor regarding any concerns you have.
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