Smart Senior

Wrap Around Sunglasses for Seniors

I just bought myself a pair of Cocoon Sunglasses and I love them!  I’ve always kept an extra pair of prescription sunglasses on hand, but they were a waste of money because I never seem to have them with me when I needed them. Experts tell us that too much direct sunlight is bad for our eyes, so in an effort to preserve our vision it has become necessary to decrease the UV light and the glare that bombards us on a daily basis.

I like the fact that these durable, lightweight glasses fit snugly over my prescription glasses for 360 degree UV protection.  These patented frames protect your eyes from all angles by blocking sunlight, glare, wind, rain, and airborne debris. These glasses are perfect for any low impact outdoor activity.

The polarized UV 400 front and side lenses treat the incoming light and eliminate the glare.  Frames are available in black, sapphire and sand colors.  Scratch resistant lenses are available in amber, grey or yellow.

If you are looking for glasses to be worn over your prescription lenses, consult the website (www.cocooneyewear.com) for instructions on how to measure and order for the perfect fit.

Hands Free Lighting For Seniors

You don’t have to be a senior to want one of these hats!  We have already experienced several power outages this winter, so I know what it is like to try to hold a flashlight under my chin while getting dressed in the dark.   

Panther Vision has designed a six-panel cap that looks like a standard baseball cap but has embedded LED’s in the brim.  The LED’s are stitched into the brim and are wired to a battery-powered unit on the cap’s closure (that little strap in the back).  These hats uses coin type lithium batteries that will last up to 25 hours.  Also available is a battery pack unit that uses AAA batteries for longer life.

Adequate lighting is important in the prevention of falls and when fumbling around in the dark just won’t do.   These caps are perfect for all types of low-light and nighttime activities from camping to dog waking. For those who want to make a fashion statement, even in the dark, the caps are 60% brushed cotton and come in black, red, blue and green camouflage. 

Panther Vision caps can be found at Sears, Lowe’s and assorted sporting good stores.

Lighting Designed for Seniors

As we get older, eye care isn’t just a matter of whether or not to opt for contact lenses or laser surgery.  A regular visit to your eye care specialist is one of the more important items on your list of things to do.  For a senior it may mean the difference being seeing well or putting up with the consequences of age related visual changes.

Each year we get poised to hear the words presbyopia, cataracts, senile miosis or worse.  All of these terms, in one way or the other, mean that our vision isn’t quite as good as it used to be.  Seniors experience more difficulty moving from bright to dark spaces or seeing details in shadowy areas. It takes longer for the eyes to adapt when you move from darker indoor lighting to brighter outdoor lighting. (www.nmlightingdesign.com/topics/index.php).

Scary as it all is, it doesn’t mean that you have lost all of your ability to see, or that you can’t carry on with your activities of daily living.  It just means that you need to be mindful of the fact that changes are occurring, and that you might need to make some adaptations in your environment. Poor vision is one of the biggest contributors when it comes to falls among seniors.   Appropriate lighting is essential to prevent falls.

Seniors need significantly more light than they did when they were younger in order to see the same things.  Higher levels of indirect light are necessary to maximize vision.  These changes happen so slowly that you may not realize what is going on.  It is important to see your eye doctor regularly and be aware that you can do things to help yourself.  If you can make only one or two changes in your life, improving the lighting in your home will give you more for your money than anything else.

Raise the overall light levels in your house, increase task level lighting, reduce glare by blocking or filtering bright lamps or light from your windows in order to control brightness.  Consider track lighting that directs light to your work area and eliminates glare and shadows.  Look into under cabinet lighting to light up your countertops and double as night lights or consider balanced spectrum lights that filter out harsh glare.

Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader for seniors with impaired vision

Good news for anyone who is blind or suffering from seriously failing eyesight.  There is a new portable gadget on the market that allows sight impaired individuals to "read" printed documents anywhere, at home or away, without the aid of a sighted person.

Favorable reviews by the Mossberg Solution (Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, July 26, 2006) for the Kurzwell-National Federation of the Blind Reader (K-NFB Reader).  The gadget takes a digital picture of a page of text, and then reads it aloud to the blind person, either through a speaker or through earphones.

The Reader proved effective on a wide variety of documents.  Users only need to hold the Reader over a printed menu, an airline ticket, a business cards, magazines and mail.  In seconds they hear the contents of the printed document played back in clear synthetic speech.  The reader can also read documents from computers or other devices.  It isn't perfect  yet, and still has trouble interpreting hightly stylized lettering.  It is a little bulky but still quite effective.  This gadget is made up of a personal digital assistance (PDA) stuck to a digital camera.  The camera captures the image, then sends the image to the PDA, which uses software to translate and read aloud the document in just 30 seconds.

The Reader is expensive (about the same as a flat screen television so put your priorities in order), but it is simple to use and works quickly. It is the closest way that a blind person can find to reading without using Braille.  It has the power to revolutionize a persons life. (www.knfbreader.com).

Balanced Spectrum Light Source

I love to read.  Without glasses I am legally blind so you will understand why looking into light and magnification systems is at the top of my "to-do" list.   Most people over 50 experience decreasing visual acuity to some degree.  Reading glasses, an increased light source and magnification are all tools that can help you make best possible use of what you have.

Balanced or full spectrum light bulbs are a popular light source that is advertised as being "the closest thing to natural sunlight available".  Natural sunlight sounds rather harsh to me, but in these light systems the harsh yellow tones that cause the glare have been filtered out leaving a more natural white light.  Because of these features the bulbs have been recommended for artists (I like to think of myself as one of these), computer users (I personally spend quite a bit of time back here in the computer room), readers (every waking minute of the day) and seniors with poor eyesight.

My aunt had a goose-neck lamp with these special lights and loved that it let her adjust the light source so that it would shine on her work area instead of in her face.  I work at an Assisted Living Facility and have noticed these special lamps in many of the rooms so it isn't exactly a secret anymore.

I can't vouch for how well they work for indoor plants or Seasonal Affect Disorder but it sounds reasonable to me. 

The bulbs are more expensive than traditional light bulbs but they last much longer and are energy efficient.   Balanced Spectrum floor lamps from First Street come with a money back guarantee and free light bulbs for life.  They are currently listed at $59.95 plus shipping and handling.   I have already thrown out a few hints that I wouldn't mind having one of these lamps for my birthday.

Please check:  www.balancedspectrum.com