8 Activities for Visually Impaired Seniors

According to the United States CDC, approximately 12 million people over the age of 40 are visually impaired. This includes 3 million with corrected and 8 million with uncorrected impairment. Visual impairment can cause seniors to feel secluded and excluded from society. Therefore, it’s important to choose activities that encourage them to be part of the community.

At Gentle Shepherd Home Care, we strive to ensure that seniors continue to feel relevant and a part of things, even with visual impairment. In this article, we’ll explain the common causes of visual impairment, as well as offer some ideas for activities for seniors with visual impairment.

Common Causes of Vision Loss

There are several potential causes of vision loss among older Americans:

• Cataracts: causes blurry vision
• Diabetic Retinopathy: causes spotty vision
• Glaucoma: causes peripheral vision loss
• Macular degeneration: causes central vision loss

However, vision loss should not mean that seniors cannot continue to participate in social activities. Below, we will offer a few ideas that you can use for seniors with visual impairments.

8 Activity Ideas

Below we have provided 8 activity ideas that you can do with your visually impaired senior:

Go for a walk

Physical activity is critical for everyone, especially seniors. Taking them for a walk gives them the exercise and fresh air they need. However, make sure to give them the support they need so that they do not get hurt. Other ideas to improve fitness include chair yoga and other low-impact exercises.

Gardening

Gardening can also be enjoyable for visually impaired adults, as it is a very calm activity that can help them relax. You can add to the calming vibe provided by gardening by listening to music.

Audiobooks/Podcasts

You can find nearly every book in audiobook form. If not, you may consider reading the book to them. You can find audiobooks at your local library or online. There are many podcasts available as well, on almost every subject you can think of.

Arts and Crafts

Activities such as knitting, crocheting, and needlework are popular among seniors, but there are other options, including sculpting with sculpting sand or modeling clay, making collages with old magazines, or painting with bright/bold colors.

Household Chores

One way to keep visually impaired seniors involved is to have them help with household chores such as preparing fruit by using a safety knife to cut soft fruits into pieces, helping with ingredients in a favorite recipe, folding laundry such as socks and other manageable items, and sorting silverware into their containers.

Animal therapy

Consider bringing in a well-behaved service animal for visually impaired seniors. Holding and petting animals can be a very calming activity.

Modified games

Visually impaired seniors can still enjoy their favorite games with large print playing cards, larger dominoes with larger dots, and others.

Listening to Music

Find out the type of music that your visually impaired senior enjoys and play it for them or share your favorite music with them. Listening to music can be a great way to relax and bond.

Need Help with Your Visually Impaired Loved One?

If you are in or near Colorado Springs and need in-home care for a visually impaired loved one, contact Gentle Shepherd Home Care. We offer a variety of in-home care needs and we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.