Information The Reality of Aging and Vision Loss in America (continued from previous page)
(continued from page 5) Healthy Minds for Life way around. It’s still a promising line of research, however. At least one research group has reported that people who had surgery to remove cataracts were 30 percent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those whose cataracts when untreated. Regardless of whether vision loss contributes directly to cognitive impairment, it’s still a critically important concern for many older adults. Our vision, hearing, touch, and sense of smell are our windows on the world. Any loss of these precious sensory functions can lead to decreases in the quality of our lives, our enjoyment of activities, our social interactions, and possibly, our cognitive abilities. For all these reasons, early detection and treatment of sensory loss is critically important. To learn more about the Precision Aging Network, visit our website at https:// precisionagingnetwork.org/. If you’d like to hear more about our studies, or if you’d be interested in participating, send us an email at healthymindsforlife@email. arizona.edu. We’ll tell you about some great opportunities to get involved. I’ll look forward to hearing from you! Lee Ryan is a Professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Arizona. She is a researcher studying aging and Alzheimer’s disease, and is a member of the Precision Aging Network.
Nationally, the annual financial burden of major adult visual disorders is more than $35 billion ($16.2 billion in direct medical costs, $11.1 billion in other direct costs, and $8 billion in productivity losses), with an annual government budget impact of $13.7 billion. Vision Rehabilitation Strategies Research confirms that people with vision loss are less likely to access routine medical care and eye care. But when they do, once vision correction, vision surgeries and other medical interventions achieve maximum results, the next level of intervention—Vision Rehabilitation—can vastly improve safety, independence and quality of life. A growing network of public and private agencies provides vision rehabilitation services to support communication (including assistive technology for smartphones and computers), independent living skills (personal and medical care and medication management), travel and mobility skills, adaptive equipment, self-advocacy and more. Most vision rehabilitation services involve eye reports or low vision evaluations from a referring physician. Although most adults with vision loss would benefit significantly from vision rehabilitation services, as of 2017, only 4.3% of eligible adults received them. In addition to facilitating aging in place, vision evaluation and rehabilitation can eliminate or delay the need for institutionalization and its attendant economic burden.
Crafting a timely and efficient response to the varied health and rehabilitation needs of older people with blindness and low vision requires thoughtful, innovative and seamlessly integrated strategies on multiple fronts, including but not limited to eye care providers, the aging network, public health, transportation, housing agencies and more. As America’s older population increases, so does the urgent need to reframe aging and vision loss so that everyone who needs vision rehabilitation services can understand the value of these life- changing services and access them. For more information about Vision Rehabilitation resources and services, contact VisionServe Alliance at info@visionservealliance.org. ______________________________________ John Crews, DPA, is senior data scientist for VisionServe Alliance. He retired from the CDC, where he was lead scientist in the Disability and Health Branch in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and later senior scientist with the Vision Health Initiative in the Division of Diabetes Translation.
July 2023, Never Too Late | Page 7
Pima Council on Aging
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