Tips for starting a visual rehab program
Experts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, and SSM Rehab in Bridgeton, MO, offer the following advice for establishing a low vision rehab program:
- Put together a multidisciplinary team including ophthalmologists, optometrists, occupational therapists, and psychologists. Get proper vision training for each team member.
- Invest in a basic set of equipment, even if you can’t afford the high-tech devices. A modest group of tools can serve most patients’ needs.
- Make the program comprehensive. Low vision rehab does not mean passing out magnifiers.
- Assess quality of life in an initial questionnaire, and focus your efforts on improving the things that are bothering patients the most.
- Be willing to spend some time. After 65-plus years of living one way, patients often find it difficult to make the needed changes.
- Educate the community and referral sources about your program. Patients and physicians are often unaware that rehab can help people with vision problems.
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