Seniors-sight-Nebraska

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====Group seeks funds to help blind and visually impaired seniors ====
: By DIANE WETZEL, The North Platte Telegraph, 12/10/2006
NORTH PLATTE - A group seeking additional state funds to help the blind and visually impaired made an appeal Saturday to newly elected state Sen. Tom Hansen.
The Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired received $25,000 from state legislators in the 2006 budget. The program provides limited independent-living rehabilitation services to senior Nebraskans who are blind or visually impaired.
Loss of functional eyesight is often part of the aging process and is the second-leading cause of disability in the United States.
Carlos Serván, legislative chairman for the National Federation of the Blind, along with Denise Johnston-Rauterkus, rehabilitation counselor at the North Platte office for the Blind and Visually Impaired, met with a room full of people at the North Platte Library Saturday afternoon, soliciting support for the program from Hansen.
“Providing (additional) funding for the program would be giving our dignity back to us as seniors in Nebraska,” said one member of the audience. “We have earned that.”
With the incidence of blindness increasing among seniors, vision loss can destroy an older individual’s quality of life and their ability to live independently, Serván said.
Current programs in Nebraska serve only 2 percent of seniors.
“We are working to help the legislature approve $1 million to serve the blind and vision impaired in Nebraska,” Serván said. “We hope they will look at the issue very seriously.”
The program is currently funded by the federal government at $225,000.
Aging-related blindness isn’t a “problem,” Hansen told the group; rather it is a fact of life.
“My mother had vision problems and I appreciate the help your organization provided to her,” he said.
Funding for Medicaid is the fastest-growing portion of the state’s budget, Hansen said.
“If groups like yours can help keep people active, independent and viable in their communities, I can certainly get behind that.”
“Costs of age-related vision loss are substantial,” Serván said.
The Alliance on Aging Research reports visual impairment is one of the top four reasons seniors lose their independence, which contributes $26 billion annually. The Framingham Eye Study reported 18 percent of all hip fractures among seniors could be attributed to age-related vision loss.
Diabetes is the second-highest cause of blindness in the nation, which costs Medicaid a large amount of money in home health checks, housekeeping and cooking.
Rehabilitation services for older blind persons provide training in safe travel, daily living skills, and the use of adaptive aids, such as canes, along with devices to help manage diabetes.
If funds are made available, the Commission for the Blind will provide independent living services and seniors who become blind can regain self-reliance and self-worth, Serván said.
“Without these services, older blind individuals often become dependent and isolated,” he said. “Or they go to nursing homes, which costs about $4,000 a month.”
The National Federation of the Blind is the largest voice of the blind in the United States.
The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight, according to the NFB. The problem is a misunderstanding and lack of information. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness is only a physical nuisance.
The Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired received $25,000 from state legislators in the 2006 budget. The program provides limited independent-living rehabilitation services to senior Nebraskans who are blind or visually impaired.
Loss of functional eyesight is often part of the aging process and is the second-leading cause of disability in the United States.
Carlos Serván, legislative chairman for the National Federation of the Blind, along with Denise Johnston-Rauterkus, rehabilitation counselor at the North Platte office for the Blind and Visually Impaired, met with a room full of people at the North Platte Library Saturday afternoon, soliciting support for the program from Hansen.
“Providing (additional) funding for the program would be giving our dignity back to us as seniors in Nebraska,” said one member of the audience. “We have earned that.”
With the incidence of blindness increasing among seniors, vision loss can destroy an older individual’s quality of life and their ability to live independently, Serván said.
Current programs in Nebraska serve only 2 percent of seniors.
“We are working to help the legislature approve $1 million to serve the blind and vision impaired in Nebraska,” Serván said. “We hope they will look at the issue very seriously.”
The program is currently funded by the federal government at $225,000.
Aging-related blindness isn’t a “problem,” Hansen told the group; rather it is a fact of life.
“My mother had vision problems and I appreciate the help your organization provided to her,” he said.
Funding for Medicaid is the fastest-growing portion of the state’s budget, Hansen said.
“If groups like yours can help keep people active, independent and viable in their communities, I can certainly get behind that.”
“Costs of age-related vision loss are substantial,” Serván said.
The Alliance on Aging Research reports visual impairment is one of the top four reasons seniors lose their independence, which contributes $26 billion annually. The Framingham Eye Study reported 18 percent of all hip fractures among seniors could be attributed to age-related vision loss.
Diabetes is the second-highest cause of blindness in the nation, which costs Medicaid a large amount of money in home health checks, housekeeping and cooking.
Rehabilitation services for older blind persons provide training in safe travel, daily living skills, and the use of adaptive aids, such as canes, along with devices to help manage diabetes.
If funds are made available, the Commission for the Blind will provide independent living services and seniors who become blind can regain self-reliance and self-worth, Serván said.
“Without these services, older blind individuals often become dependent and isolated,” he said. “Or they go to nursing homes, which costs about $4,000 a month.”
The National Federation of the Blind is the largest voice of the blind in the United States.
The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight, according to the NFB. The problem is a misunderstanding and lack of information. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness is only a physical nuisance.
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