Services and support for older
people with sight loss
Expert Briefing 23rd January 2013
Claire Ball
Development Manager,
Equalities & Human Rights
Who are our customers?
Impairment
Estimated number retired people in UK
Mobility
5.7 million
Manual dexterity
2.5 million
Physical coordination
2.2 million
Hearing
2.1 million
Personal care
1.7 million
Continence
1.7 million
Memory or concentration
1.7 million
Sight
1.6 million
Lifting, carrying, moving objects
6.4 million
No impairment
2.7 million
With at least one impairment
9.3 million
Impact of sight loss
People with sight loss experience:
• More difficulty in accessing health services
• Report having lower feelings of wellbeing and lower
satisfaction with overall health;
• Sight loss increases care needs, in part because it makes it
harder to manage other conditions;
• Reduced self-confidence, particularly in new environments,
can prevent people going out and about;
• Face barriers to accessing travel and shopping;
• Risks of falls, isolation and depression increase;
• Are more likely to experience financial hardship
Impact of sight loss – daily living
Travel
• 60% of older people with sight loss reported that they needed
someone to help them get out of the house
• Only 30% of those of retirement age could hail a bus
Shopping
• Only 29% of those aged 75 reported being able to go to the
corner shop
• Only 26% of those of retirement age could go shopping in a
department store for clothes
Money Management
• 48% of those aged 75 and over needed help to manage their
money
Emotional impact of sight loss
•
•
•
•
•
•
35% of older people with sight loss are also living with some form
of depression
44% report that they feel moderately or completely cut off from
people and the things around them
Nearly 50% say that they always limit the amount of walking they
do outside the house
Increased risk of falls
The majority of people over 75 have three or more long-term
conditions;
60% of women, and 36% of men aged 75 and over live alone
Sight Loss UK 2012
Access to information & services
•
Blind and partially sighted older people report not being able to
access information and that they found out about services by
chance, through lucky encounters and sometimes after years of
not knowing about a local service
‘Quick Wins and Missed Opportunities’ – RNIB/OPM report 2012
Older people & sight loss – Age UK’s work
Falls Awareness Week 2011: Watch Your Step!
Falls Awareness Week aims:
• to raise awareness of the different risk factors for falls
• what older people can do to reduce these risks
• what services are available to help older people reduce their risks of falls
FAW 2011 focused on the link between vision and falls. Reduced vision can
affect balance, co- ordination and mobility. Age UK promoted three key
messages • Eye health checks are a vital part of looking after ourselves
• Wearing the right glasses at the right times can reduce our risks of falls
• Simple changes to our lifestyle and environment can improve vision and
help prevent falls
Falls Awareness Week 2011 - impact
•
•
Over 1,200 local events held nationwide to promote falls awareness.
Almost 85 per cent of those who attended a Falls Awareness Week event
in 2011 said they learnt about reducing their risk of falls after visiting the
event
‘I did not know that I could have my eyes tested at home. I am disabled and unable
to visit my local optician without great difficulty… Eyes At Home are coming
to the scheme for a day and I shall be having my eyes tested along with
several other residents who, like myself, normally struggle to arrange this.’
Ms A. Stevens, St Clements Court
‘I had a fall outside the Black Boy [hotel]…People helped to pick me up…and I
went home on my own. Now I fear going out for fear of falling again. ‘I have
learned quite a bit from the event today. I feel a bit more confident because of
it. Thank you.’ Ethel, Sudbury, 94 years old
Developing Age UK’s practice
• Working with RNIB’s Older People’s
Impact Team
• ‘Seeing it from their Side -Adapting older
people’s services for support sight loss’ –
resource guide
• 2 regional joint Age UK/RNIB seminars
London, October 2011; Leeds, April 2012.
Key services, activities & support
•
Communication (including different formats)
•
Access to and use of information, including benefits
•
Mobility and access to transport
•
Stimulation, engagement and participation
•
Social inclusion and relief from isolation
•
Health and wellbeing, including access to services
•
Emotional support, in various forms
•
Awareness of, and access to, equipment and technology
•
Improvements to housing, care and support
Developing inclusive services –
Age UK Leeds
•
Developing a Café in Leeds City Centre
•
Safe, accessible and inclusive space for older people in busy city
centre
•
Awareness-raising for staff and volunteers
in working with older people with sight loss
Developing inclusive services –
Age UK Leeds
Developing inclusive services Volunteer befriending support
Age UK Kensington & Chelsea
•
•
•
•
Since 1997, has been connecting young volunteers (16-25) with
older people with sight loss, with mutually beneficial outcomes;
Young volunteers are recruited from local secondary schools and
colleges; typically each visit one older person for an hour per
week, usually for one year;
Service users are referred by the Sensory Impairment Team,
Social Services and Blind Aid;
Visual awareness training for volunteers is provided by Action for
Blind People;
Developing inclusive services –
Volunteer befriending support
Age UK Kensington & Chelsea
•
Volunteers visit older people with a visual impairment in their own
homes and help with reading letters, writing responses, reading
books or newspapers, and making time for a cup of tea and a
chat;
‘they are charming girls. As an ex-school mistress I have had a lot
of contact with children in the past, but young people today seem
to be more in touch with the world than when I was growing up. I
am always amazed how little they know about history, so I hope
the things they read can broaden their horizons and extend their
knowledge of Britain’s past. They probably think it’s an extension
of school coming here!’
(Mrs S., service user)
Developing inclusive services –
partnership working
Age UK Lincoln and Action for Blind People
•
•
•
Informal partnership (April 2011) to use organisational skills &
resources to benefit older people with sight loss in Lincoln;
Close correlation between ageing and reduced vision, so
welcome opportunity to find out if closer collaboration would
benefit service users;
Started with Action for Blind People’s worker having a desk at the
Age UK Lincoln site;
Developing inclusive services –
partnership working
Age UK Lincoln and Action for Blind People
Key areas of work & organisational benefits:
•
•
Visual awareness training for over 20 AUK Lincoln staff (2 sites)
Older people with sight loss being referred directly to Action, to
ensure that appropriate support is ‘swift and seamless’
•
A Corporate Social Responsibility day, organised by Action,
provided AUK Lincoln an opportunity to showcase services
Action has increased understanding of AUK Lincoln products eg.
Activities, Insurance etc., and able to promote more effectively;
•
Developing inclusive services –
partnership working
Age UK Lincoln and Action for Blind People
•
•
•
•
•
AUK Lincoln’s Park Street Centre now registered with the low
vision clinic as a resource centre where people can come and try
out products in situ, and order them directly;
AUK Lincoln has hosted the Action for Blind People bus, which
gives out information on sight loss;
Action for Blind People now has a central office base close to
transport routes, making access easier for service users;
Action has held meetings of service users groups in AUK Centre
AUK Lincoln events have raised profile of sight loss and the
support available from Action – recent event generated 9
enquiries in a day
Developing inclusive services –
partnership working
Age UK Lincoln and Action for Blind People
Looking ahead –
•
•
•
•
•
Increased impact of joint organisational training package
Inclusion of AUK Lincoln’s services in Action’s leaflets and vice
versa;
Introduction of visual awareness training in the induction of all
new AUK Lincoln staff and volunteers;
Introduction of additional RNIB products into AUK Lincoln sites;
Possible use of Action’s Vision Hotels for AUK Lincoln holidays
and/or outings for older people.
Developing inclusive services –
tackling isolation
Older People Taking Control (OPTiC) –
Silver Dreams project, Staffordshire
•
•
•
Partnership of trusted organisations to enable older people,
especially those with or at risk of sight loss, to manage the
changes in later life and reduce isolation
RNIB, Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service, Age UK, Action for
Blind People, York Blind & Partially Sighted Society – working
together to support older people in Stafford & York to run:
User-led courses and peer-support schemes, sharing practical
knowledge and experience, and providing emotional support to
each other;
Developing inclusive services –
tackling isolation
Older People Taking Control (OPTiC) –
Silver Dreams project, Staffordshire
•
•
•
•
Volunteer ‘buddying’ schemes, providing practical support on
transport, hobbies, shopping and other daily tasks;
‘Change Exchange’ self-advocacy groups – campaigning for
improvements in local services and facilities, demonstrating that
older people can change the way that society views older people
and sight loss.
Regional Advisory group – older people & colleagues from the
OPTiC partnership;
13 volunteers recruited to deliver training sessions, provide
practical & emotional support, and organise activities/groups.
Feedback from older people
with sight loss
‘Without doubt Ian has helped me in every way a man in my
situation can be helped. Without his patience I would be in a
real mess, financially and mentally’ (Richard, 90 years old &
partially sighted, receiving support from AUK Herne Bay’s I&A
service)
‘I feel welcome and relaxed, as there is always someone to
guide me to the door. I feel independent and have help
when I need it. Everyone is very nice’ (blind older man, using
AUK Portsmouth’s Activity Centre)
‘I just love the opportunity to get out’ (Renee, 90, member of the
Vision Impaired Bowls Group, East Sussex Association of the
Blind)
Age UK’s approach
• Evidence from research & practice – partnership
working/learning from RNIB; development of Age UK’s
evidence base – an ‘Expert Series’ report?
• Service development – supporting local Age UKs working in
partnership with sight loss organisations, learning & exchange
to support practice development; funding opportunities?
• Engagement & Volunteering – developing inclusive
approaches to engage and involve older people with sight
loss (VISAL project – Tracey Avison)
Contact details:
Claire Ball
Development Manager,
Equalities & Human Rights
T: 020 303 31077
E: claire.ball@Ageuk.org.uk
W: www.ageuk.org.uk