Project to help older people with vision impairment

Media release – Otago Polytechnic

For immediate release, Monday 19 September

Project to help older people with vision impairment

A project to assist older Dunedin residents with visual impairment will soon get underway at Otago Polytechnic, thanks to a funding grant awarded to Principal Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, Dr Mary Butler.

She has received more than $15,000 towards a project to develop individual “lighting prescriptions” for up to 50 local people with low vision, to assist them in their day-to-day tasks. The funding has come from Otago Science Into Action’s Participatory Science Project.

Dr Butler says low vision affects a significant number of people. “Those aged over 65 require three times as much light to see as those in their 20s,” she explains, “and this can have a significant impact on a person’s quality of life.”

Compounding the issue, there are almost no low vision services available to people in New Zealand, and the Blind Foundation supports those people who are registered blind.

“93% of all people with vision impairment are not eligible for that assistance,” says Dr Butler. “Most people are sent home from their ophthalmologist with the message that there is nothing that can be done. But there are many small things that can make a real difference to how people live. Teaching older people about their own lighting needs enables them to understand and meet their own requirements.”

The project involves the use of a sophisticated new light meter, the Lux IQ, which can determine an individual’s particular vision impairment and test the effects of different lighting options.

“From there, we can prescribe the correct lighting intensity and the filter or colour of light required to mitigate each person’s impairment,” Dr Butler says. “A range of bulbs and task lighting are available from big hardware stores, so there’s ready access to these solutions here in Dunedin.”

Six first year Otago Polytechnic Occupational Therapy students have volunteered to work on this project and they will be guided by a team of four third-year students who are undertaking placements in low vision. Together these students will become involved in teaching and learning about lighting and low vision, providing “an amazing opportunity for accelerated learning in this field.”

Craig Grant from Otago Science Into Action – a partnership between Ngai Tahu, Otago Museum, NZ International Science Festival, University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic – says the project is an exciting one.

“By the visually impaired working alongside the occupational therapy interns to assess, test and review the effectiveness of different lighting regimes, we hope this will help them to develop real new solutions for their homes. It could also generate insights that might help the likes of rest homes and hospitals."

The initiative is expected to run until mid-December.

-ENDS-

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