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Low-vision rehabilitation is a secondary, nonsurgical approach to managing wet AMD, focusing on teaching patients new techniques for seeing and performing daily tasks. In rehabilitation, a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist will evaluate a patient’s visual function according to several tests and discuss with the patient any difficulties they may have experienced as a result of vision loss. Based on these findings, the physician will then recommend a specific plan of action for the patient, designed to help the patient retain visual function and maintain a good quality of life.
Upon development of central scotoma, studies show that patients with classic subfoveal CNV secondary to wet AMD choose (consciously or unconsciously) a preferred eccentric retinal area to perform visual tasks that the nonfunctioning fovea used to perform.26 Among other aims, low vision rehabilitation focuses on helping patients to utilize this retinal area for the purpose of maximizing overall visual function. Under instruction, patients learn to use this preferred area to complete daily activities such as reading, preparing food, and navigating enclosed spaces.
In addition, low-vision rehabilitation offers patients professional instruction increasing in physical mobility and independence and dealing with emotional distress. At this stage in rehabilitation, patients will receive help from a physical therapist, who, upon hearing from the physician and then speaking with the patient, will propose a physical therapy program that is right for them. Many times, therapists visit patients’ homes to suggest equipment and techniques for activities of daily living, such as navigating the house or streets or using public transportation. Other recommendations may be as simple as altering the lighting in a home to enhance contrast and control glare.
The result of years of research and testing, low-vision rehabilitation can help patients with low visual acuity attain a greater quality of life, providing them with new ways of seeing the world and themselves.
For more information on low-vision rehabilitation and vision preservation, visit Prevent Blindness America at www.preventblindness.org and The Lighthouse National Center for Vision and Aging at www.lighthouse.org.
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