focus on low vision

The Growing Need

by Stephanie K. De Long

You've heard it all before. Low vision is a vastly underserved market. And, as the population ages, the need for low vision services will increase even more.

But just how great is that need? Two surveys go a long way toward answering that question. One, the Lighthouse National Survey on Vision Loss, was conducted for The Lighthouse, Inc., by Louis Harris and Associates, and provides an invaluable look into the challenges facing older Americans.

The second is a report coordinated by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and released by the National Eye Health Education Program. It details plans for a low vision public education program, but also includes a lot of overview information. The piece covers the breadth of the market and the need to educate consumers and low vision patients about today's variety of options.

Following, is a look at some of the hard numbers brought to light in these two studies. Try plugging some of these numbers into your own practice. Are there practice-building opportunities within low vision? You bet. Here are the numbers to prove it.

AGE CORRELATION

One out of every six adults over the age of 45 is defined as vision impaired. Move up the age scale to 75-year-olds, and that number increases to one out of four. Many of these individuals have been your patients—until, that is, they were told that nothing else could be done.

The fact is that something can be done. Getting those individuals back into your practice, or at least referring them to someone who can help, is not difficult because chances are their fully sighted family members or caretakers are still your patients.

Many healthcare professionals lump the partially sighted into the category of the blind. Most of these individuals have some remaining vision. The eyecare provider must create a program that combines rehabilitation and assistive technology.

Not only is there a need. There is also fear. Of all disabling conditions, the only one feared more than blindness is mental illness. Seven out of 10 people surveyed report fearing blindness more than being confined to a wheelchair, deafness, or losing a limb.

PATIENT PROFILE

Are certain portions of the population in general and your patient base in particular more likely to become vision impaired than others? As the Lighthouse study points out, "Although vision impairment cuts across all social and economic strata, specific groups of Americans are at greater risk. In general, vision impairment is more prevalent among people who have fewer social and economic resources."

They are most likely to be:

• Women
• Poor
• Non-white
• Not high school graduates
• Unmarried
• Living alone
• In fair or poor health

Ethnicity does, report NEI findings, play a larger role than once understood. "Demographically, low vision affects African Americans older than 65 at a rate of 105.9 per thousand, compared with 71.7 per thousand of non-Hispanic whites. And," continues the report, "as the U.S. racial/ethnic composition continues to diversify, the issues related to low vision will also continue to grow."

Given this profile of the visually impaired, it's not surprising that many prospective low vision patients aren't aware of their options for care. The Lighthouse reports that 35 percent of middle aged and older Americans aren't aware of any services in their community for people with vision impairments. And more than 40 percent of those over age 64—as well as those who themselves actually suffer from severe impairments—say there are no community vision rehabilitation services. That is not generally the case. But it shows how much opportunity the vision care community has to get the message out. EB