SightCare: Educating Caregivers about Vision Loss

Cathleen Wirts, MS, Jewish Guild for the Blind, Senior Vice President, Administration and Planning, 15 W. 65 St, New York, NY 10023, 212 769-6276, cwirts@jgb.org and Barbara Litke, MA, Vice President, JGB Rehabilitation Corp, JGB Educational Services Corp, The Jewish Guild for the Blind, 15 West 65th Street, New York, NY 10023.

Caregivers have stated that they want and need information to help them give the best care possible. SightCare has developed programs to educate those who care for, work with, or interact with visually impaired or blind persons in a variety of settings. SightCare's educational resources include: educational materials for the general public, educational curricula for direct care staff and health professionals in a variety of settings, educational resources for persons with vision loss, training programs for professionals providing vision and vision-related services, and customized educational solutions to meet your facility's unique needs.

Some of the products developed include: vision posters, instructional manuals, training package including a video, reference manuals, vision simulator cards, and instructional manuals.

SightCare prepares caregivers to effectively communicate and interact with their clients.

Learning Objectives:

Caregivers will

-Increase understanding of the emotional impact of vision loss and how low vision can affect a person's behavior and ability to perform tasks
-Learn how to more effectively interact/communicate with a person with vision loss
-Learn the basics of sighted guide technique to assist a person with vision loss to travel
-Become aware of environmental hazards that affect independence and safety for people with vision loss and some basic ways to improve the environment
-Learn about techniques and devices to help individuals with vision loss function more independently in activities of daily living

Keywords: Community Outreach, Vision Care

Related Web page: www.jgb.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: SightCare, The Jewish Guild for the Blind
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation

Teaching Public Health to the Health Care Professions (organized jointly by VC, CHC, PHC)

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA