Occupation

Abstracts
Posters
climate tend to be focused on reacting to crises rather than
routinely promoting the principles of recovery (Bowers et al.,
2005). It is only when we start working in this way we will
start to reduce the pressures on services to cope with growing
demands, and most importantly improve the quality of life for
many people living with dementia.
References
Bowers H, Eastman M, Harris J, Macadam A. 2005. Moving out
of the shadows: a report on mental health and well-being in
later life, Help and Care Development Ltd.
Daley, S., Newton, D., Slade, M,Murray, J., and Banerjee, S (
2013). Development of a framework for recovery in older people
with mental disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
28: 522.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2013)
Supporting people to live well with dementia [QS30]. Online.
Accessed: 2 September 2015.
Keywords
Dementia, Practice development, Pathways or models of service
delivery, NHS
Contact E-mail Addresses
carol.duff@lpft.nhs.uk
Author Biographies
Carol has 23 years working as an occupational therapist in
mental health services within the NHS. Carol is currently a
Consultant OT in dementia and older adults mental health
services in Lincolnshire and a Senior Lecturer at the University
of Lincoln. Carol has worked in range of roles and interests
include dementia, sensory processing and integration, vocational
rehabilitation and recovery. Carol is currently the occupational
therapy representative on the NICE committee to review the
guidelines for dementia.
P43
Using portable technology to engage and support
people who have a sight loss and dementia
Cruickshank L, Neil J, McCusker R, RNIB
This poster examines how quality of life and engagement for
people who have sight loss and dementia can be improved
through the use of information and communication technology.
One in five people aged 75 and over are living with sight loss
that significantly impacts on their daily lives. (Access Economics,
2009). This can be further complicated by co-morbidities such
as dementia the majority of people over 75 have three or more
long term conditions (RNIB 2013).
Supporting someone with a dual diagnosis of sight loss and
dementia can be challenging. Often behaviours thought to be
associated with dementia are actually associated with sight loss
at some level. Diagnostic overshadowing, hidden sight loss may
lead to ineffective assessment processes which potentially may
compromise engagement and support strategies.
Research has demonstrated that early detection of sight loss,
prevention treatment and rehabilitation can positively influence
independent living skills, communication and social skills (UK
Vision Strategy 2020).
There is growing evidence that leisure activities such as singing,
listening to music, dancing and gardening (Gotell et al. 2002)
can be beneficial in ameliorating some of the effects of dementia
(Karp et al. 2006) and many of these activities are more easily
carried out or supported using the technologies now available.
We will examine how this technology can improve choice,
promote engagement and independence. We will examine
various forms of technology and show how they can be used as
an enablement tool. Touch screen and voice enabled technology
provides ease of use and instant feedback for people and may
address hidden sight loss and visual processing difficulties arising
from dementia. Using case stories we will highlight and show
how useful these tools are to improve a person’s independence
and confidence and we will ask occupational therapists to
consider how they incorporate portable technology into current
practice.
References
Access Economics (2009) Future Sight Loss UK 1: The economic
impact of partial sight and blindness in the UK adult population.
RNIB.
Gotell E, Brown S, Elkman S (2002) ‘Caregiver singing and
background music in dementia care’. Western Journal of Nursing
Research, 24(2) pp 195216
Karp A, PaillardBorg S, Wang HX, Silverstein M, Winblad B,
Fratiglioni L (2006) ‘Mental, physical and social components in
leisure activities equally contribute to decrease dementia risk’.
Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 21 pp 6573
RNIB (2013) Sight Loss UK 2013. London: RNIB https://www.
rnib.org.uk/sites/default/files/Sight_loss_UK_2013.pdf Accessed
on 11.08.15
RNIB (2013) Vision 2020 Strategy Report (2008) Available at:
http://www.vision2020uk.org.uk/uk-vision-strategy-final-reportword-format/
Accessed on 11.08.15
Keywords
Dementia, Practice development, Education and learning,
Voluntary/third sector services
Contact E-mail Addresses
linda.cruickshank@rnib.org.uk
Author Biographies
Linda Cruickshank is a Vision Support Officer working within the
Learning Disability and Complex Needs Team at RNIB Scotland.
She supports people who have a sight loss and their family/
carers. She is also part of the UK Practice Development Team
training professionals and carers in Health and Social Care,
voluntary and private sectors as part of the Vision Champion and
Vision Awareness training programme to increase the awareness
of hidden sight loss for people who have complex needs. Linda
is an experienced Occupational Therapist.
June Neil has been employed by RNIB for 15 years in a variety of
roles supporting adults with complex needs and sight loss.
She joined UK Practice Development Team in 2011 and has been
involved in the development of
• training programmes focusing on Hidden Sight Loss within
complex needs
• resources materials for Health and Social Care professionals
• research around Effectiveness of Vision Awareness training
for Health and Social Care supporting adults with learning
disabilites in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University
and Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS.
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