Vision loss impacts patients’ lives in a wide variety of ways, one of the most common being the tendency to lead a sedentary lifestyle. This can cause issues such as obesity, lack of mobility and loneliness, which can significantly affect physical and mental health.
Yet blindness and low vision, at any age, should not be an impediment to your patients living the life they choose, especially when they have the ability and strong desire to remain active.
Encouraging your vision impaired patients to remain active is an important part of holistic care
Many sports and recreational activities are available for your blind and visually impaired patients – ranging from swimming, bike riding, cricket, and football as well as fitness classes. Leisure activities, such as social board game nights, dancing and even domestic and international travel are also available.
Specialist organisations like Vision Australia, Blind Sports Australia and several state-based blind and low vision specialist sports organisations are available to help your patients access the wide array of options available to them.
Encourage Activity
Encouraging your vision impaired patients to remain active is an important part of holistic care. It is also crucial in ensuring access, equity and social inclusion to everyday life for vision impaired citizens.
Talking about the options available to your patients and referring them to specialist organisations such as Vision Australia will also demonstrate and reinforce your role in the circle of care beyond the clinic.
To refer your patients to Vision Australia, visit www.visionaustralia.org/healthcare-professionals.
