eye-2-eye
National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2009 - SeeAbility's eye 2 eye, West Sussex is one of 10 Lottery-funded projects in the Best Health Project category of this year's National Lottery Awards, in association with FemaleFirst.co.uk
There can be a lot of preparation required for someone with learning disabilities to receive an effective eye test
There are around 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability and 1 in 3 will have a sight problem. Many of these people will not know they have a problem and may not be able to tell anyone. SeeAbility’s eye 2 eye campaign works with individuals with a learning disability, their carers and others who support them, to raise awareness of the importance of eye health and to improve access to good quality eyecare.
Lottery funding has been vital in enabling the eye 2 eye campaign to reach out to people in West Sussex. An eye 2 eye Development Officer is funded through a Lottery grant to work directly with people with learning disabilities throughout West Sussex, supporting them to get their eyes tested and to receive follow up treatment.
"There can be a lot of preparation required for someon
e with learning disabilities to receive an effective eye test," says Stephen Kill, the SeeAbility eye 2 eye Development Officer in West Sussex. "They need to understand what’s going to happen and feel comfortable. There’s quite a lot of equipment involved in an eye test and this can be disconcerting to a person who has learning disabilities."
The eye 2 eye team also works to train optometrists and other eye health professionals to better understand the needs of people with learning disabilities and to provide them with useful information in advance that can help the testing process.
A crucial aspect of Stephen’s role is to raise awareness of the importance of regular eye tests and to get people into the eyecare system. This has prevented people with learning disabilities from losing their sight unnecessarily and had a major impact on their quality of life. For example, one individual, 58-year old Ron, was already partially-sighted in one eye when it was noticed he was having trouble with the other eye. Stephen supported him through treatment to have a cataract removed and Ron is now much more confident about getting around and is enjoying life again.
Stephen says "I love my job - it is immensely rewarding to help people with learning disabilities to make the most of their sight."
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