Posted on May 29, 2009 - by Nurse Virginia

Caregiver Tips: Helping your elder with Aging Vision and Alzheimer’s disease. (Part Three)

Aging vision needs much more light:

“Why are you turning the lights on already” Carl’s wife asked. “Oh, it’s going to get dark soon” He replied. This from the man who went behind her for years turning off lights when she just stepped out of a room for a minute. He wasn’t even aware of his vision problems, but he needed three times more light now than she did.

Natural sun light is always the best source of light for aging vision problems. Carl had always enjoyed wood carving, and could now be found carving in the most unusual places around the house “following the sun.” Just like a household pet that lies in the sun during the day and repositions as the sun moves through the home, Carl now follows the sun through the day.

6 Ways to help persons with diminished vision:

• Do as many errands as possible during the daylight hours.
• When you go from bright light to lower light it takes awhile for older eyes to adjust – grab a grocery cart outside the store so the elder has something to hold onto when they go from one level of light to another.
• In the home use bright lighting that reflects off of ceiling and walls to reduce shadows and dark spots.
• Be aware of providing contrasts in colors to help the elder see – white foods like mashed potatoes, cauliflower and fish on a white plate, placed on a white table cloth is a much harder meal to see than the same meal on a red plate.
• A home with a color on the windows and doorways that contrasts from the color of the walls makes it much easier for the confused person with vision loss to understand their environment.
• Avoid patterns on upholstered furniture; it’s much easier to see a solid colored piece of furniture on different colored flooring.

If the elder had a disease process that warrants the use of a white cane (see part two). The elder with Alzheimer’s disease may not be able to learn the correct use of a white cane, the sweep of the environment as they walk. But the cane can be a good visual when in public, to identify the elder as someone with decreased safety awareness and thereby increase courtesy and understanding from strangers.

A great source for information is the American Foundation for the Blind at: www.afb.org