Tips for starting a visual rehab program
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.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.