Consultation on Eye Health and Preventing Sight Loss in London.
It's a major part of being able to get around - you're limited if you can't see.
One of the major things you always want to hold onto is sight. Things in your
living environment will be accessible to you.
What we did
Most people recognised that poor vision can be a problem in later life but potentially anyone could be affected by vision impairment. This implies that it is important that everyone is aware of contributing factors and how to avoid the preventable causes of poor eye health.
We carried out surveys, semi-structured interviews, online surveys and outreach engagement to get feedback from service users.
Key Findings
Most of the participants said:
- They were unaware that poor eye health can cause problems like poor mobility.
- They felt that poor eye health could be prevented.
- Eye health is key to good overall health.
- The current healthcare system needs to bring eye health into ‘mainstream’ health.
Good eye health was viewed as being central to general health and wellbeing.
- Poor eye health can increase the difficulties people might face day to day in London which is crowded and potentially more difficult to get around.
- Poor mobility can lead to isolation,other vulnerabilities and safety concerns as well as loss of independence which could affect a person’s mental wellbeing.
- Poor eye health, coupled with a lack of preventative measures and timely treatment, might lead to the condition worsening and impacting on a person’s wider health.
The Health and Care System
As the above issues develop for a patient and the prevalence of eye health problems increases, there will not only be a greater demand for health services, but also a greater cost to those services, including social care. The responses to our survey suggest that:
- There more should be done to include eye health in the general health management arena
- Different parts of the health system should join up to bring about better outcomes through prevention & greater access to testing and treatments.
Proactive support for people at higher risk, earlier diagnosis and timely certification of vision impairment could mean:
- Better support and prevent some of the knock-on effects on wider health and wellbeing could improve outcomes and save costs and resources for a stretched health care system.
- Many people highlighted the importance of better education and support in schools from a young age contributing to improved eye health literacy and good eye health later in life.
If you need this report in a different format, please email
enquiries@healthwatchwandsworth.co.uk or call 020 8516 7767.
