Usually it’s hearing loss that comes first, but vision deficits also hit a significant number of people aged more than 70 years, with 23% having losses in both senses.
As new apps, devices and software become available to combat these disabilities, a new resource serves as a guide for using these new tech tools.
The free new course, “Confident Living With Hearing and Vision Technology,” comes courtesy of Helen Keller Services. It was released this week and aims to assist in the following ways:
- Help older adults who have hearing or vision loss identify their specific needs
- Help older adults find available tools that may be most beneficial
- Help providers with choosing and obtaining technology
Some of the modules within the course are titled “Maximizing Tech as an Informed Consumer,” “Object and Text Recognition Apps and Devices” and “Talking With Your Rehab Specialist.”
Sensory decline is a challenge in and of itself, but in older adults, there are cascading effects, with a high correlation between hearing and/or vision loss and cognitive decline and dementia, research shows.
Overall it is estimated that there are approximately 40,000 adults in the US who are completely deafblind – clinically deaf and blind – according to the National Consortium on Deafblindness.
Conversely, a recent study shows that using hearing aids can help mitigate or reverse cognitive decline and also can help reduce incidences of falling by as much as 50%.
New tech that addresses vision impairment includes new features within Apple’s watchOS 10 that tracks time outdoors, which correlates positively with reducing the risk of visual myopia, the McKnight’s Tech Daily has reported.
