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Preferred Practice Pattern Guidelines for Vision Rehabilitation
abstract
This abstract is available on the publisher's site.
Access this abstract now Full Text Available for ClinicalKey SubscribersAs a service to its members and the public, the American Academy of Ophthalmology has developed a series of Preferred Practice Pattern guidelines that identify characteristics and components of quality eye care. Appendix 1 describes the core criteria of quality eye care.
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Ophthalmology
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Vision Rehabilitation Preferred Practice Pattern®
Ophthalmology 2022 Dec 19;[EPub Ahead of Print], ML Jackson, G Virgili, JD Shepherd, MA Di Nome, DC Fletcher, MA Kaleem, LA Lam, LM Lawrence, JS Sunness, AT RidderingFrom MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
This preferred practice pattern guideline for vision rehabilitation is somewhat unique in that it was developed with a greater focus on improving the patients' quality of life and safety rather than disease management per se. The essence of this preferred practice pattern can be summarized in this early statement, "the primary role of all ophthalmologists in the vision rehabilitation process is to recognize patients who are impacted by their vision loss and respond by referring them for vision rehabilitation, a clinical process to help patients achieve their goals and maintain quality of life and safety despite vision loss." This statement should be underscored by the finding that "even early or moderate vision loss may result in disability, which can affect visual performance, cause anxiety, interfere with safety and everyday activities, and diminish the quality of life." Notably, the authors of this guideline recognized that, for adults with visual impairment, "the rehabilitation team may include clinicians (typically ophthalmologists or optometrists), ophthalmic technicians who assess visual function, therapists (eg, occupational or vision rehabilitation therapists) who evaluate patient function and train patients to use devices or alternate strategies, assistive technology trainers, orientation and mobility specialists who offer specific skill training (eg, how to use a white cane), teachers of patients with visual impairment, opticians, social workers, psychologists, or vocational counselors." Furthermore, they addressed the needs of children with vision loss in Appendix 3 and reiterated that "these children should have a clinical low-vision evaluation by a qualified ophthalmologist or optometrist trained and active in low-vision rehabilitation, receive prescribed optical devices and/or electronic video magnifiers (assistive technology), and be given educational instruction in the use of any prescribed devices." Optometry also has an Optometric Clinical Practice Guideline entitled "Care of the Patient With Visual Impairment (Low-Vision Rehabilitation)." Given the similarities between the two practice pattern guidelines, including a shared goal of enhancing the quality of life of patients with visual impairment through a multidisciplinary approach involving both optometry and ophthalmology, developing a unified practice pattern guideline could go a long way toward encouraging inter- and intra-professional management of these patients and possibly influencing the political and economic basis for improved patient access to these services.