One in twenty of your patients over the age of 75 are likely to be classed as deafblind. They will have a moderate or severe hearing loss and a moderate or severe sight loss. The combination of the two adds up to a serious disability which will impact on their lives and their health.
Deafblind older people have higher rates of a range of conditions, including stroke, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, falls and depression. Sense estimates the cost of treating these additional conditions to be £365 million per year.
Support is available to deafblind older people which would help keep them active, independent and healthy. Yet few receive appropriate services.
Deafblindness is defined as a combined hearing and sight loss that causes problems with mobility, communication and access to information. Most older deafblind people have some level of hearing and sight, but a loss to both senses combines to create a serious disability.
- They may not feel safe to go outside, making exercise impossible.
- They will find healthy eating difficult, as shopping and cooking are hard to do safely.
- They will struggle to communicate with others, becoming ever more isolated from friends and family.
- They will find it hard to keep their minds active by reading, watching television or listening to the radio.
- It will be difficult to give them information about healthy lifestyles, or managing medication.
It is not hard to see how this all adds up to poor health outcomes.
