Caring

Everyday life with Macular Degeneration

Macular Disease leads to major changes of every day life. People touched by the disease need to learn to live with their vision loss.

Very frequently people suffering from Macular degeneration have trouble coping with this change especially the loss of independence. This often leading to depression, self pity and loss of enthusiasm.

For friends and family, it is time to show how much you care, understand and can help the patient.

It is important to know that this disease is almost unknown by general public that often ignore it or diminish its impact. This attitude makes patients’ lives even harder because their handicap is not recognized by others, thus leading to patients refusing to go out in public. This isolation and loneliness tend to accelerate aging.

For family and friends, it is time to help keeping social life and physical activity.

How to help?

To help patients suffering from Macular degeneration to keep an independent life a lot of help is available.

To help someone going out, learn to be a sighted guide. This will help that person with errands and building enough confidence to be able to go out alone.

To guide a person with poor vision walk half a step ahead of them, let them grasp your arm just above the elbow. To climb stairs, always approach them squarely. Stop completely before starting to climb. Let the person take her time, find the first step and then, to guide them always being a little ahead of them. Make sure to announce when you arrive to the last step.

Using a white cane can be very useful to help the patient going out especially when alone. At the beginning of the illness, patients might be reluctant to use it. It is your job to convince them of the white canes usefulness.

To help a person doing grocery shopping order checks with large printing and teach them how to use writing guides.

Also teach them how to sort coins and fold bills differently depending on the amount to recognize them easily.

Always carry a pocket lamp and a magnifying glass.

Use a minitape recorder to prepare the grocery list instead of writing it.

Anything that can help people suffering from Macular degeneration to stay independent and not be isolated in its blindness is important.