Have you suspected that your senior’s vision is changing? You’re probably not imagining things, but without a thorough eye exam it can be difficult to know for sure what is going on. Working closely with your senior’s eye doctor is really essential. Here are some other tips for helping your elderly family member to deal with vision changes and possibly with eye illnesses that are affecting her vision.
Eye Exams Are Crucial for Early Detection
Your elderly family member might not ever experience symptoms related to eye trouble, so it’s important that she sees her eye doctor regularly. This can help to ensure that her eye doctor is able to keep track of what’s going on with her vision and her eye health. The sooner your elderly family member is diagnosed with any eye issues, the sooner she can undergo treatment.
Spotting Changing Vision
Vision changes in older adults might not always be easy for them to communicate. You might notice changes in your senior’s behavior before she notices or mentions changes to her vision. Hobbies that she used to enjoy might be more difficult for her as her vision changes, so she may stop doing those activities. She may also become less active in general or less able to keep up with household tasks.
Look for Ways to Accommodate Your Senior’s Vision Changes
It’s important to find ways to accommodate the changes that your elderly family member is experiencing with her vision. Sometimes that might mean bringing in in-home care providers to handle some tasks that have become too complicated for her. It also might mean making changes to her home, like improving lighting conditions or moving furniture to make mobility easier with her changed vision.
Prioritize Rest and Nutrition
Getting enough rest and proper nutrition may not necessarily cure eye issues and vision changes, but they help to protect your senior’s overall health. Ensuring that she’s as healthy as possible may require help from elderly care providers, particularly with things like meal preparation. In-home care can help your senior to stay on a schedule that ensures she’s able to get the rest that she needs regularly.
Find Other Ways to Make Life Easier for Your Senior
There may be some other ways that you can make your senior’s life easier, too. Finding alternative transportation ensures that she can still get where she needs to go, even if her eyesight doesn’t allow her to drive, for instance. Talk with both her doctor and her eye doctor about what you can do to make it easier for her to deal with this new issue in her life. Just knowing that you’re in her corner can help your senior so very much more than you might realize.
Vision changes may feel more frustrating to your senior if this is the first time that she’s having trouble with her eyes. Talking through how she is feeling may help her to better accept what’s happening and to feel more proactive about embracing the changes.
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