The Underutilization of Vision Loss Services

A wealth of services exist for people with vision loss or blindness, but research shows that they are underutilized.

“A series of focus groups that were conducted by the National Eye Institute (NEI) indicated that many older persons with low vision have little or no awareness of these services, and, as a consequence, few take advantage of them (National Eye Institute, 2001). Similar findings were reported in the Lighthouse National Survey on Vision Loss (Lighthouse International, 1995)[…]. The most common reason for the lack of utilization of low vision devices and services was the participants’ unawareness of them” (Casten et al).

This awareness gap includes services like ours at Aftersight. We need to make sure people know about who we are and what we do. This is why our outreach efforts are VITAL. The awareness gap extends to tools and services that are more specialized or advanced. This is why Aftersight works hard to offer education build public awareness about ALL tools and services that would empower people with vision loss or blindness.