People with dementia can have changes and difficulty with vision. This can cause confusion in how they see the world. It can also cause confusion in a caregiver’s expectations.
In the moderate/mid stage of dementia a person’s peripheral vision might shrink to about 12 inches around. As the dementia progresses the brain might find that it is no longer able to handle information coming in from two eyes so the person is now seeing from one eye.
How many of us have witnessed a person with dementia reaching out or picking in the air? It is easy to jump to the conclusion that they are hallucinating but it really could be they are trying to shut off the light. Unfortunately, they might not be able to see how far away the light really is.
For a better understanding I challenge the caregiver to try this; position your hands around your eyes as if you are wearing binoculars. Now try to walk around like that. Safely. This gives you an idea of what the person is truly seeing, or not seeing. Hopefully this will change your expectations of the person you are providing care for. #DementiaTipThursday
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