How to Care for Someone with Vision Loss and Dementia

10 Tips to Support People With Vision Loss & Dementia

Many things can be done to support people with low vision and vision impairment who also struggle with dementia. Below are 10 tips we recommend.

1. Make gradual changes. Adapting to new things can be challenging for anyone, but it’s especially challenging for dementia patients.
2. Focus on daily activities. Try to keep a routine and have a to-do list with plans, appointments, activities, and even medication times.
3. Have a consistent environment. After adjustments for their condition, it’s important to maintain a consistent environment to avoid confusing them.
4. Clothing. Consider buying easy-to-use clothing that’s comfortable and loose-fitting.
5. Prioritize vision health. Get regular eye exams and tests to assess the status of their vision.
6. Talk to a healthcare provider. Talk to a doctor about any vision or mental changes that they’re experiencing.
7. Ask for help. It can be difficult to handle a loved one with dementia and vision loss, so try reaching out for assistance from family, doctors, or organizations.
8. Make things more comfortable. You can help with daily tasks, help them navigate, or make the house more blind-friendly.
9. Look for rehabilitation services. Look for services that provide support for the elderly, especially ones that cater to people with visual impairments.
10. Understand dementia. Do some research about the progression of the disease and its symptoms. Understanding dementia can help avoid a lot of fear and stress.

The most important thing is to be gentle and respectful. Tell the person what you will do, step by step, while you help them bathe, get dressed, or use the restroom.

Care Tips for Optometrists

If you need to work with patients with dementia, it’s important to look for resources on their needs and how to handle them. This is especially true if you haven’t worked with the special needs community before.

Talk to your patients' loved ones about their health and encourage them to be proactive about maintaining eye health with routine vision exams. Schedule extra time with your patient, and if possible, consider home visits.

Below are dementia resource links to check out.

• Visionaware.org
• Home Care Assistance
• ALZ.org

The Impact of Vision Loss and Dementia

Vision loss exacerbates many common symptoms of dementia. For example, disorientation can get worse when someone has low vision. This is true whether there are problems with their eyes or if dementia is causing their visual problems. 

Additionally, everyday tasks become challenging and might cause emotional or behavioral issues for someone with dementia. When someone with dementia experiences vision loss, they are at greater risk of:

• Falling
• Miscommunicating or misinterpreting things other people say
• Social isolation
• Resisting tools and adaptive techniques to help with their visual issues
• Neglecting their hygiene
• Giving up activities they once enjoyed
• Agitation or sensory overload
• Neglecting physical fitness
• A person with dementia experiences massive disruptions in their life. 

Most dementia-related diseases change every aspect of someone’s day-to-day existence. Visual impairment compounds these problems and makes it more difficult to treat and manage both issues.

What Causes Dementia-induced Vision Loss?

There are many causes of vision impairment and loss, one of the causes is age-related macular degeneration. However, people with dementia have a heightened risk of vision loss. 

In some cases, these are vision issues anyone can experience (such as impaired vision from cataracts), but the person with dementia may struggle to communicate vision changes. This can cause the problem to progress without anyone noticing.

There are also changes in vision that are related to dementia but not directly to eye health. For example, dementia affects the part of the brain responsible for managing visual input. Although their eyes may be healthy, the message sent from the eye is misinterpreted by the unhealthy brain. 

Common Problems That Dementia Patients Experience

People with dementia may interpret the things they see differently. In some cases, they may be unable to identify people or objects properly.

People with dementia might also experience:

• Inability to recognize color differences
• Inability to describe what they see
• Inability to detect movement
• Mistake TV images for real life
• Becoming restless, agitated, or overwhelmed due to bright lights, busy patterns, etc.

Being able to see involves several stages, beginning with the eye. What the eye sees must be properly interpreted by the brain. Memories, thoughts, and other senses also play a role. 

Someone with perfect eye health could experience problems if their brain misinterprets information. If a person’s brain is affected by dementia, it affects exactly what they think they see. The problem worsens when there are problems with visual impairment and health. 

How Does Dementia Affect Eye Health? 

It is especially challenging for someone with dementia to experience normal vision decline or more serious issues. Routine activities and communication can become extremely difficult.

A person’s environment becomes frustrating, and their daily life becomes a nightmare when their brain is unable to process what they see. Low vision challenges are also stressful for the loved ones of someone with dementia.

The combination of dementia and vision loss leads to:

• Disorientation
• Difficulty transitioning from light to dark spaces
• Greater need for assistance
• Difficulty learning new technology and/or equipment
• Anxiety

Additionally, both dementia and low vision create challenges for patients and their loved ones.

Being proactive about creating a safe, comfortable environment prevents many common issues that arise in dementia patients with low vision.