I’ve just been reading The Vision Council’s newly released report, “Vision Loss in America: Aging and Low Vision,” and came across some sobering statistics. For example, did you know that one in 28 Americans age 40 and above has low vision? This trend will continue to increase over the next 20 years as 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 each day.

Low vision is often caused by eye diseases like cataracts, which affect 20 million Americans; age-related macular degeneration, which affects 2.07 million Americans; diabetic retinopathy, which impacts 7.6 million Americans, and glaucoma, which 3 million Americans suffer from, according to the report.

Judging from these numbers, low vision— which is defined as visual impairments that are not correctable through surgery, pharmaceuticals, glasses or contact lenses—is reaching unprecedented levels. Is your eyecare practice prepared for this coming wave?

If not, it’s time you got into gear. Staff training is crucial in order to understand the special needs of low vision patients and their families who often function as caregivers. If you can’t attend a seminar or bring in a low vision expert to train your staff, Eschenbach Optics of America offers a webinar series that’s worth looking into.

It’s also important to familiarize yourself and your staff with the many types of low vision products available today. In addition to handheld and desktop magnifiers, there are many electronic magnification systems available that can magnify text or objects or read text aloud to the user. The technology in these devices has advanced considerably in recent years, so it’s worth investigating them if you haven’t done so lately.

Finally, reach out to low vision patients and let them know you’re a resource for them. Many low vision patients have special software that allows them to use computers, so online marketing can be effective, particularly if you have an audio message that can be delivered through your website or through social media.

Read The Vision Council’s report to get a comprehensive understanding of the challenges involved in treating low vision patients. Download it at visioncouncil.org.

Andrew Karp
Group Editor, Lenses and Technology
[email protected]