The Impact of a Low Vision Intervention on Affective State among Nursing Home Residents

This study examined affect outcomes associated with a low-cost intervention that included; diagnosing vision disorder among cognitively impaired individuals, correcting the disorder through prescription of glasses, and providing staff training in recognition of vision problems and reinforcement methods. The training consisted of 3 one-half hour modules that included wearing simulators to demonstrate how people with vision disorder see, and a 22-minute educational video. A quasi-experimental study design was used to collect longitudinal data from nursing home residents; units were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions. Due to attrition or inability to communicate, the final n for analyses was reduced from 283 to 166. A significant effect was demonstrated for the second experimental group only, indicating that staff training and reinforcement were necessary components of the intervention, thus supporting the value of providing vision screening accompanied by glasses in combination with staff training and monitoring.