Low vision home therapy service by occupational therapists: The effectiveness of the Seniors’ Eye Rehabilitation programme, a pilot study

Abstract

Introduction:This study aims to explore the effectiveness of the Seniors’ Eye Rehabilitation (SEER) pilot programme, a visual rehabilitation home therapy by specialised low vision occupational therapists (LVOT).Method:This was an interventional, longitudinal cohort study. Participants were recruited from Singapore National Eye Centre Low Vision Clinic. The occupational therapy interventions include activities of daily living retraining, activities/home modifications, functional/community mobility training and patient/family education. Each participant set two individualised goals (Priority Goal 1 and Priority Goal 2). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare baseline and 6-month follow-up scores for Australian Therapy Outcome Measures for Occupational Therapy (AusTOMs-OT) and the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) ( p < 0.05).Results:Forty-one participants (mean age: 67, 48.8% male) completed SEER. There was statistically significant reduction in activity limitations (1 median point change (MPC), Z = −4.21, p < 0.01), participation restrictions (1 MPC, Z = −3.951, p < 0.01) and improved well-being (0.5 MPC, Z = −3.668, p < 0.01) for Priority Goal 1 using AUSTOM-OT. With GAS, there was a statistically significant improvement in Priority Goal 1 (1 MPC, Z = −3.886, p < 0.01).Conclusion:The SEER programme was found to be effective in improving all domains of the AusTOMs-OT and GAS for Priority Goal 1. This provides evidence that visual rehabilitation home therapy by specialised LVOT is beneficial to older adults with visual impairment.