Project highlights role of vision for independence

A research project with the University of Queensland is helping Bolton Clarke retirement village residents make simple environmental changes to mitigate the effects of vision impairment.

Through the SENSE-Cog project, researchers are seeking to understand the prevalence of hearing and vision loss among home care recipients and evaluate the impact of a sensory support intervention.

Bolton Clarke’s 2023 Health and Wellbeing in Retirement Living survey found 61% of residents surveyed reported vision problems, with 27% reporting macular degeneration, glaucoma, or blindness.

Bolton Clarke Senior Research Fellow Dr Carly Meyer said residents from nine Bolton Clarke villages who also receive home care services had been involved in the project, led by University of Queensland researchers Prof Piers Dawes and Dr Melinda Toomey.

“Hearing and vision impairment can have significant impacts on a person’s wellbeing,” Dr Meyer said.

“Vision impairment is a major contributor to falls, reduced mobility and social isolation for older people and untreated vision loss can also increase the risk of dementia later in life.

“The project aims to address these issues and improve quality of life, sharing simple strategies for maintaining healthy ears and eyes.

“Residents who choose to take part in the study also have hearing and vision screening tests and can then trial a range of a sensory support intervention.”

While the project is ongoing, early positive feedback from participants has suggested even simple changes like placing items on a white surface for contrast have made a real difference improving independence.

“They don’t have to be big things to make life easier,” one participant said. “The small things have made so much difference for me.”

“I think they’ve made me calmer about the whole deal – it demystifies the whole process,” said another.

Thursday, 9 October is World Sight Day, inviting people around the world to #loveyoureyes