Supporting Rural Veterans With Vision Loss Using a Low-Tech Tool Kit: The First Step

TL;DR

A survey explored how VA clinicians in rural areas can better support older Veterans with vision loss using low-tech tools.

Contribution

The study identifies clinician preferences for a low-tech tool kit to address vision-related activity challenges in rural Veterans.

Findings

Most clinicians referred Veterans to vision care services rather than addressing activity challenges directly.

Clinicians prioritized simple instructions, intuitive tools, and replaceable items in a low-tech tool kit.

Only 59% of clinicians routinely checked medical records for vision-related concerns.

Abstract

Age-related vision loss can significantly impact older people’s daily activities, leading to care dependency. Access to vision care services is challenging for rural older Veterans with vision loss due to long travel distances and limited capacity to drive. Low-tech solutions to enhance activity participation could be taught by VA generalist clinicians who are not vision specialists. For example, applying tactile cues to help operate a microwave. As an initial step of an implementation study, this survey aimed to understand 1) VA generalist clinicians’ awareness of older Veterans’ vision concerns and 2) their preferences for a tool kit that offers low-tech solutions to address these concerns. Community-based VA clinicians in the Northern Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System were invited to complete the survey, with 39 respondents representing seven health professions. Descriptive analysis showed that 92% of respondents had served rural Veterans in the past three months, and only 59% routinely reviewed medical records for vision-related concerns. The top identified concerns were difficulty reading, driving, and falls. Respondents mostly referred the Veterans to vision care services (67%). Additionally, respondents’ top-ranked features for the low-tech tool kit as “very important” were: having simple instructions with clear illustrations (77%), kit items that are intuitive to use (64%), and items that can be easily replaced (64%). Survey results suggested a need to increase VA generalist clinicians’ awareness of activity challenges faced by rural older Veterans with vision loss. Results also guided the development of a low-tech tool kit to meet the clinicians’ preferences.