Care home workers need more visual awareness training so they can identify sight loss

Care home workers need to be given more visual awareness training so they can identify sight loss in residents and ensure they get the right support aids and access to volunteer services.

The research published by sight loss charity Thomas Pocklington Trust suggests any deterioration in residents’ vision could be going undetected, as care workers do not have training in sight loss, coupled with the fact that residents do not always like to ask for help.

It is estimated that as many as half of the 400,000 older people who live in care homes have some form of sight loss (RNIB, 2014) but they require extra support when they live in a care home.

Residents need to be routinely asked about their vision with simple proactive questions which should be included in regular care plans. There also needs to be greater awareness within care homes of rehabilitation and support services that residents could access, according to the researchers from Brighton University.

Pamela Lacy, research manager at Thomas Pocklington Trust, said: “Many local sight loss charities provide a range of services, such as visual awareness training and befriending, that can help to address the impacts of visual impairment. This research suggests that residents' quality of life could be positively affected by care homes connecting with their local sight loss charity to access the services on offer.”

The study ‘Older People’s experiences of sight loss in care’ looked at six residential care homes and one nursing home with staff, residents and their relatives being interviewed.

Researchers found there was a lack of knowledge within homes about aids and technology that might help residents with sight loss.

Residents who used aids had found and funded these themselves, so a better general understanding about what exists would benefit more residents. People may be unfamiliar with technology and lack confidence to use devices, and bringing devices into homes and giving residents an opportunity to try them out would be beneficial, said the report.

Dr Lizzie Ward, a senior research fellow at the University of Brighton, added: “Co-producing research with people with visual impairment is important, as it generates an understanding of the experiences of visually impaired people, and could be conducted more in the sight loss sector. The outcome of co-production is research that has been shaped in partnership with the people whose needs it was intended to address and consequently findings that are relevant to their lives.”

To see the study go to http://www.pocklington-trust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RF-56-1.pdf