Tips for Caring for Loved Ones with Failing Eyesight

As your parents or relatives age, problems like macular degeneration can impact their vision and daily life. What’s more, sight and independence go hand-in-hand. A loved one with failing eyesight may be afraid they’ll lose their freedom, too. However, you can adjust a few things in their home to assist a visually impaired parent.

It can be challenging to make changes around the house to ease their struggles while not restricting their freedom. We’ve provided a few tips to help your loved one keep his or her dignity and as much independence as possible.

The Basics

Caring for relatives or parents with failing eyesight doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a few things to do around the house to simplify moving from room to room and completing daily tasks for your loved one with vision problems:

• Keep a consistent routine.
• Don’t move furniture or important items on counters.
• Create an agreed-upon system for administering medication throughout the day, like a pill organizer.
• Get rid of any throw rugs or other tripping hazards.
• Don’t leave guests’ shoes or bags on the floor.

Kitchen

Navigating the kitchen with impaired vision can be stressful. Make it easier for your loved ones to find what they need and prepare meals with a few quick and easy changes:

• Write your loved one’s reminders or to-do list for the day on a whiteboard in large print.
• Cover the table with a white tablecloth so they can see items against the contrast.
• Add raised, sticky buttons to the microwave to help them locate the on/off button and commonly used settings.
• If you prepare meals, freeze and label them with white tape and a black marker on the tops and sides of each container.

Laundry Room

Ensuring your loved one can keep up with his or her daily chores without constant assistance will help them retain their sense of independence. A few small adjustments will ensure they can do laundry with ease:

• Add a raised button on the warm, hot, and cold water settings and a button on the knob so your loved one can line up the dots for the correct setting.
• Add similar raised buttons for their preferred dryer setting.

Living Room & Hallways

Getting around the house can become increasingly difficult when vision starts to decline, and this can be especially upsetting for aging loved ones wanting to retain their freedom. But keeping the main rooms comfortable and accessible is easy:

• Leave lights on as often as possible, and use nightlights and hall lights.
• Add a red button to heat and blue button to air conditioning on the thermostat.

Bedroom & Bathroom

Ensuring your loved one can navigate bedtime and bathtime without issue is an important part of establishing a regular routine. A few simple aids can help:

• Purchase a talking alarm clock, which says the time aloud with a push of a button.
• Add a red button to “hot” and a blue button to “cold” in the shower.

Errands & Entertainment

Keeping errands and entertainment available is a great way to assist your loved one with the adjustment to a life with declining vision. Here are a few ways to make sure they feel independent:

• Try using paper clips to differentiate dollar bills. For example, $1 has one paper clip, $5 has two paper clips, $10 has three paper clips, etc.
• Set TV closed captions to the largest font possible.
• A tablet with a large font or a handheld magnifying glass can help your loved one read the news.
• If he or she enjoys playing cards, purchase ones with large print and dark or vibrant colors.
• Good activities for visually impaired loved ones include listening to an audiobook, planting a flower in a pot, or putting together a puzzle with a little assistance.

Communication

Making sure your loved one can contact you, your family members, or 911 is an important part of helping them retain their freedom while keeping them safe. There are easy ways to make this possible:

• You can program his or her landline and cell phone to have each family member on speed dial.
• Add a raised button to the phone so they can easily connect to an operator or make an emergency call.
• If you have a device like Google Home or Alexa, create a command list in large print so that your loved one can ask questions, listen to music, or call you in an emergency.

While adapting any household to a loved one with declining vision can seem difficult, a few simple tips and tricks can make life easier and allow them to retain the independence they enjoy.

If your loved one needs a little extra assistance around the house, and you could use a helping hand, experts are always available to provide additional care with transportation and other services.

Safe-T Home Care is an in-home care agency in Monticello, Indiana. We provide services such as transportation, personal care, and companionship to your loved ones so they can remain safely at home and maintain as much independence as possible. For more information, please visit our website or like us on Facebook.