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“I feel I want to scream just for human conversation... I feel that I’m deteriorating so much because I have no stimulant, I suppose. I hardly sleep at all.”
Bristol City Council, 2014
For young people, life chances are affected as they may struggle to build the necessary resilience to cope with transition periods, for example when moving from education to employment. Social isolation within mainstream schools and the workplace can also be a problem for people with sight loss (Rotheroe et al, 2013).
Falls reduction
A 2012 study found that between 40% to 50% of older adults with visually impairing eye disease limited their activities due to a fear of falling. This puts people at further potential risk for social isolation and disability (Wang et al, 2012)
Every year in Wales half of those over 80 will have a fall in their home. Resulting injuries such as hip fractures have a hugely detrimental effect on individual wellbeing and require costly health interventions. Across Wales, falls have been estimated to directly cost the NHS £67 million per year (Davidson et al, 2011) and evidence suggests around 10% of all falls can be attributed to sight loss (Boyce, 2011). Appropriate adaptations and aids in the home can play a vital role in reducing risk in this area.
Access to education and employment
Across the UK it is estimated that two-thirds of registered blind and partially sighted people of working age are not in paid employment (Douglas et al, 2006 cited in Action for Blind People, n.d). Over two-fifths of people living with sight loss say that they have some or great difficulty in making ends meet (RNIB, 2013).
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that people with hearing loss are less likely to be employed (65% are in employment) compared with 79% of people with no long term health issue or disability (Action for hearing loss, 2016).
13.4. Current Care and Support Provision
A range of care and support is available for people with sensory loss in West Wales. Whilst the precise nature of provision varies in each county area, generally these include:
• RehabilitationOfficersfortheVisuallyImpaired(ROVIs)locatedwithinsocialcare who provide rehabilitation service for people of all ages who are certified blind, partially sighted or are registerable under these categories of reduced vision. A ROVI’s role is to help build confidence, provide emotional support, regain lost life-skills and teach new skills, maintain and promote independence and choice
West Wales Population Assessment March 2017 Sensory impairment