Low Vision (Valentino)

Course overview

An estimated 285 million people are currently suffering from low-vision and visual impairment impacting their daily tasks world-wide (Zetterlund, Lundqvist, & Richter, 2019). In the United States alone these deficits are costing over 16 billion in healthcare dollars which carries a significant burden for patients (Shah et al, 2018). As rehabilitation professionals we have the unique opportunity to identify ways to maximize a patients function and reduce burden of care. This course will aim to better equip therapists in the understanding of low vision diagnoses and how to service this population in order to maximize function safely. This course will focus on the ability select appropriate functional evaluations for their discipline in order to modify and establish treatment plans for the low vision patient. Immediate-use resources will be identified for therapists to implement next-day in clinic for treatment effectiveness. Participants to this course will be able to identify the common low vision diagnoses impacting patient function. Participants will leave understanding the link between balance and vision will be defined with patient risk factors discussed for therapists to better identify at-risk clientele and grow their practice.