Hi, mum has dementia and she has been recommended to have a vision test. I went to spec savers and boots yesterday to ask what provisions they have in place for dementia customers and to be honest there was nothing!! I feel it’s a waste of time taking her for a test as she gets so muddled that I think she would say yes when she means no etc and could land up with the wrong prescription!! I would be very grateful for any advice on what I could do.
Vision test for someone with Dementia
- Thread starter jude1223
- Start date
As long as your mum can keep her head reasonably still they could use the method used for children, the optician projects an image onto the retina and makes adjustments until it is in focus, the person being tested does not have to make any judgements.
Don't forget the pressure test for Glaucoma
Don't forget the pressure test for Glaucoma
When my dad went to spec savers they used the method that nitram suggested. Dad was always saying he couldn’t see properly but they came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a sight problem but more of an interpretation problem he was having due to the dementia. They were very good with him.
Yes my husband broke his glasses in the nursing home, and they got an optician in. Out of curiousity, I asked my own optician how they test someone with advanced dementia, and he said they use a totally different method with those of different abilities, children, non verbal, and those with dementia or other disabilities.
Dad also had a visiting optician to his NH and as others had said if your mum will sit with her head still for a short while they have ways of looking and measuring. It sounds as though the staff at the one you visited were not fully aware of this...but should have been even if their branch didn't offer the service. Keep in mind though that what may happen and quite quickly as I discovered with my dad...his declining dementia eventually made glasses irrelevant as his brain wasn't able to understand the signals from his eyes and actually that became a risk. He had varifocals and became very possesive of his or anyone else's glasses so often picked and wore others instead so goodness knows what he was seeing and that became a risk for him in terns of falls. Eventually the ocd on specs went and he refused to wear his as he no longer recognised or understood that he wore specs...what they were or why.
The reception staff and the optician at Newcastle Vision Express were very helpful and patient when I went with my wife in November last year. Her test seemed to take a long time - probably because her answers did not give a consistent view (no pun intended) - but somehow they got enough information to give her a prescription. She has never worn her new varifocal glasses though as she says that her eyes are perfect..
The opticians can indeed use the method used for young children and babies ie shining a light onto the back of the retina and focusing it, but it is quite a specialist test and some opticians are better at it than others. The best thing would be to try and find someone who is used to testing small children as they will have had a lot of practice with it.
You can try asking friends with children who wear glasses where they go, or you could look out for the following signs - childrens glasses prominently displayed, everything on one level (for ease of buggys) and a toy box in the corner
You can try asking friends with children who wear glasses where they go, or you could look out for the following signs - childrens glasses prominently displayed, everything on one level (for ease of buggys) and a toy box in the corner
My mums bed bound and had a call at home by vision call,they visit nursing homes too,the people were lovely and it was easy for my mum
My wife is diabetic, controlled by diet which was coincidentally first identified not that long after she was diagnosed with dementia.
Her eyesight has always remained pretty good, only needing reading classes (which she hardly ever used). She started having the diabetic eye screening tests each year, but this became more and more difficult as the dementia progresses.
The tests are done in a mobile unit that comes to the surgery but as the limited space inside prevented me from accompanying my wife, they changed her appointments to their unit at the local hospital.
The last time my wife went was around 2 years ago where despite our best efforts, we couldn't get her to hold still enough or follow the instructions to look at the green dot, etc. They said that there was little they could do and we agreed to remove her from the annual test programme.
Similarly, I have not taken her for normal eye tests for quite a few years and she also cannot cope with the breast screening appointments (despite going in with her sister - they couldn't get her to hold still or get into the right position).
Similar outcome for her annual diabetic nurse annual checks - blood pressure check not helped by her moving her arm about; couldn't get her to step on the scales; reflex prick test on her feet was hilarious
.
So rightly or wrongly, I focus (pardon the pun) on the daily trials and tribulations of dealing with her dementia.
Her eyesight has always remained pretty good, only needing reading classes (which she hardly ever used). She started having the diabetic eye screening tests each year, but this became more and more difficult as the dementia progresses.
The tests are done in a mobile unit that comes to the surgery but as the limited space inside prevented me from accompanying my wife, they changed her appointments to their unit at the local hospital.
The last time my wife went was around 2 years ago where despite our best efforts, we couldn't get her to hold still enough or follow the instructions to look at the green dot, etc. They said that there was little they could do and we agreed to remove her from the annual test programme.
Similarly, I have not taken her for normal eye tests for quite a few years and she also cannot cope with the breast screening appointments (despite going in with her sister - they couldn't get her to hold still or get into the right position).
Similar outcome for her annual diabetic nurse annual checks - blood pressure check not helped by her moving her arm about; couldn't get her to step on the scales; reflex prick test on her feet was hilarious
.So rightly or wrongly, I focus (pardon the pun
) on the daily trials and tribulations of dealing with her dementia.