Health
A 20-page large-print booklet and a series of videos to help people adapt to life with low vision are available from the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
The materials were released for Low Vision Awareness Month, February 2013.
The booklet, “Living with Low Vision: What you should know,” urges people with low vision to seek help from a low vision specialist and provides tips to maximize remaining eyesight, enabling them to safely enjoy a productive and rewarding life.
The videos feature patient stories about living with low vision. Another video, targeted to health care professionals, emphasizes the importance of informing patients with vision loss about vision rehabilitation services. The booklet and the videos were developed by the NEI National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP).
Low vision means that even with regular glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, people find everyday tasks difficult to do. Reading the mail, shopping, cooking, and writing can seem challenging.
The chief causes of vision loss in older people are age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataract, and glaucoma.
Among younger Americans, low vision is most often caused by inherited eye conditions, infectious and autoimmune eye disease, or trauma.
A 2012 report cosponsored by the National Institutes of Health estimates that 2.9 million Americans are living with low vision. The number is projected to increase 72 percent by 2030 when the last of the baby boomers turn 65. Most people with low vision are 65 years old or older.
“I encourage anyone with low vision to seek guidance about vision rehabilitation from a low vision specialist,” said NEI Director Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D. “For many people, vision rehabilitation can improve daily living and overall quality of life.”
A low vision specialist is an ophthalmologist or optometrist who specializes in the care of patients with low vision.
A low vision specialist can develop a rehabilitation plan that identifies strategies and assistive devices appropriate for a person’s particular needs, which vary depending on the person’s age and the source and severity of vision loss.
As described in the booklet and videos, vision rehabilitation services include:
- training to use magnifying and adaptive devices;
- learning new daily living skills to remain safe and live independently;
- developing strategies to navigate inside and outside the home;
- providing resources and support to help patients with vision loss.
“A vision rehabilitation plan helps people reach their true visual potential when nothing more can be done from a medical or surgical standpoint,” said Mark Wilkinson, O.D., a low vision specialist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and a NEHEP planning committee member. “Vision rehabilitation can make a world of difference to a person adjusting to vision loss and should be considered part of the continuum of care. I urge health professionals to help their patients with low vision seek vision rehabilitation services.”
The NEI is committed to finding new ways to improve the lives of people living with visual impairment. The NEI currently dedicates more than $24 million to research projects aimed at low vision.
Projects include learning how the brain adapts to vision loss, strategies to improve vision rehabilitation, and the development of new technologies to help people with low vision read, shop, and find their way in unfamiliar places.
Statistics on low vision are taken from the report, 2012 Fifth Edition of Vision Problems in the U.S., available on the NEI Web site at http://www.nei.nih.gov/eyedata .
The new NEI booklet and videos along with other resources for people with low vision can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.nei.nih.gov/lowvision .
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – St. Helena Clear Lake’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, which has helped many community members celebrate personal milestones, is proud to celebrate a milestone of its own: 10 years of service.
The program, which is designed to improve the quality of life for people with chronic lung disease, measures the significance of this anniversary by the difference it has made in the community, one life at a time.
“What we do here has made a life-changing difference for hundreds of local residents,” said Program Coordinator Nancy Perrin, RCP. “For people living with conditions like emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, or pulmonary fibrosis, even the most basic activities of life can seem overwhelming. With this program, we help people get their lives back, and do more than they ever thought possible.”
Under the leadership of world-renowned pulmonary specialist John Hodgkin, MD, St. Helena Clear Lake Pulmonary Rehabilitation emphasizes individual solutions based on each patient’s needs and goals.
The benefits of the program include breathing more comfortably, greater mobility, reduced anxiety and depression, and the ability to do daily activities with greater ease.
The evidence-based program is nationally certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AAVCPR), the gold standard for pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
Certified AACVPR programs are recognized as leaders in the field of cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation because they offer the most advanced practices available.
“We start with a careful assessment of each patient, then build a program using goal setting, structured therapy, and exercise therapy,” says Perrin, who works individually with each participant, along with Rehab Secretary Donna Perry. “Education and empowerment are key elements of success, so we do a lot of teaching and encouraging. Ultimately, though, our patients are the heroes. They teach us so much about strength and commitment that we feel incredibly fortunate to work with them.”
One of those heroes is John Gilliam, 72, who was recently referred by his pulmonary physician in Lakeport.
Diagnosed with moderate chronic obstructive lung disease, he was extremely debilitated, with severe shortness of breath on exertion.
After 30 years of a two-pack-a-day habit, Gillham was skeptical that the program could help him. Now, however, he’s a believer.
“The positive way I was treated when I started the exercise program has made all the difference,” he said. “I’m breathing easier already having learned proper breathing techniques and self pacing, and seem to have an easier time exerting myself.”
Sylvia Timmons, 58, is another believer. Originally diagnosed in 2008 with primary pulmonary hypertension, an untreatable disorder, Timmons underwent bilateral lung transplant surgery in 2011.
In the aftermath of a series of complications and setbacks following the surgery, she was disheartened by her inability to manage many of the basic tasks in her life.
“I had an unspoken dream of going on a vacation with my husband and son, but I didn’t think my body could ever handle the challenges of a road trip. I couldn’t even go grocery shopping, which I’ve always loved to do,” she said.
After starting rehab in the late fall of 2012, however, she experienced major improvements in strength and stamina that brought a renewed sense of hope.
Now, Timmons has achieved her dream of going on vacation, and has returned to many of the simple pleasures of life she thought she’d lost forever.
“I have so much more self-confidence, and I can do the things I need to do. Best of all, I’ve learned how to continue to exercise at home to maintain my progress,” she said.
At 90 years young, Robert Urquhart is one of the most young-at-heart attendees of pulmonary rehabilitation.
After graduating from the full program over five years ago, he has steadfastly continued his exercise at home, and faithfully attends the maintenance exercise group for graduated patients. Far from seeing his workouts as a chore, Urquhart approaches them in typical can-do fashion.
“The pulmonary rehab group is my social time and a good opportunity to get my vitals checked weekly,” he said. “We are a wonderful ‘motley crew’ of graduated folks who care about continuing our exercise and breathing as best as we can. This program is a great community service for those who need it. I certainly did!”
With hundreds of stories like these, to the team at St. Helena Clear Lake Pulmonary Rehabilitation, 10 years of service seems like just the beginning.
“We built this program on things that are proven to work, often very simple things, and we’ve seen the value of it demonstrated over and over again,” said Dr. Hodgkin. “One of the most powerful things we try to convey is that even though many of these conditions are incurable, you can get better. Even small things add up, over time, to greater wellness in body and mind, and we’re here to help you make that arithmetic work.”
For more information on attending the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program contact Donna Perry at 707-995-5624.
Location is at the Hilltop Professional Building, 15322 Lakeshore Blvd., Suite 204, Clearlake.
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