Nursing Home Residents Denied Proper Vision Care

Cosumer Affairs, Oct 09, 2007

According to a July 2007 report, the University of Alabama at Birmingham reports that over two-thirds of nursing home patients have no record of a an eye exam in their records.  This number is even more staggering when the study mentions the total percentage of those visually impaired in the nursing home system is approximately fifty percent.

Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., the chief author of the report, states, “It appears that routine eye care may not be taking place for a substantial segment of the nursing home residents in our sample.”  Interestingly in the report, over 90% of the nursing home residents were reported as being covered by medical insurance, however, over 66% of the residents did not have a valid recent, eye exam.

Cited in the study as the reasons for this large lack of medical eye care for seniors in nursing facilities includes lack of eye care professionals to service these individuals, sentiments of families and doctors that include little concern over negligible vision impairment in the patients, and increasing number of patients seeking nursing home assistance due to visual impairment and blindness.