Transcript Camsight Presentation Provider Forum October 2015

Support and opportunities for
visually impaired people in
Cambridgeshire
Information for Cambridgeshire County
Council Provider Forum
October 2015
Outline of presentation
• Aims of Cam Sight
• National framework and local partnerships
• Overall costs of sight loss and increasing need for services
• Costs of decreasing quality of life associated with sight loss
• Outcomes achieved by Cam Sight for local visually impaired people
• Increasing our reach to visually impaired people across
Cambridgeshire
Aims of Cam Sight
Cam Sight is a registered charity established in 1912. We support
visually impaired people in Cambridgeshire in maintaining
independence and wellbeing; raise awareness of eye health to
reduce eye disease and work with the wider community to ensure
needs of blind and partially sighted people are met
We provide a range of prevention services that reduce mental ill-health,
falls, isolation, hospital visits and need for care and we support
vulnerable people in living independently and safely in their homes
and communities.
National framework and local partnerships
• UK Vision Strategy aims are supported by UK governments and
implemented through an alliance of statutory health and social care
bodies, the voluntary sector and eye health professionals. The
strategy sets the direction for eye health and sight loss services in
UK
• Cam Sight is a member of the Cambridgeshire Vision Partnership
that implements the UK Vision Strategy locally. The Cam Sight CEO
is the local lead on the national UK Vision Strategy group
• The Partnership is comprised of Addenbrooke’s and Hinchingbrooke
Hospitals; CCG and Area Team; Cambs County Council; Anglia
Ruskin University Optometry Department;
Cambs Local Optometric Committee; Healthwatch Cambs and local
and national third sector visual impairment organisations.
Overall costs of sight loss and increasing
need for services
•
Losing one’s sight is a devastating diagnosis for many people
•
1 in 5 people aged 75 and over and 1 in 2 aged 90 and over live with sight
loss (1)
•
18,210 people are estimated to live with sight loss in Cambridgeshire, this
number projected to increase to 23,490 by 2020 due to factors including
ageing and diabetes (2)
•
Total NHS Programme budget spend on problems of vision in 2011-12 was
£21.5 billion (2).
•
This NHS Programme budget spend on problems of vision equates to
£35.61 per person in Cambridgeshire (2).
Costs of decreasing quality of life associated
with sight loss
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Very severe Age-related Macular Degeneration causes a 63% decrement in
quality of life, a decrease similar to that associated with a severe stroke that
leaves a person bedridden, incontinent and requiring constant nursing care
(3)
The prevalence of depression in visually impaired people is approximately
30-45% compared to 12% in the non-visually impaired population over 65
years (4)
Research indicates that until someone has come to terms with a diagnosis
of sight loss they are unable to take up specialist services needed to
maintain independence (5)
A secondary diagnosis of depression increases risk of nursing home
admission (6)
Three out of four visually impaired older people live in poverty or on its
margins on less than half the mean national income (7).
Outcomes achieved by Cam Sight for local
visually impaired people
Please see accompanying diagram of outcomes
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Emotional well-being
Social inclusion
Economic well-being
Independent living
Increasing our reach to visually impaired people
across Cambridgeshire. The following pictures and
stories show:
• Rolling out services in Fenland
• Increasing our use of volunteers
• Developing support for visually impaired children, young
people and families
• Visually impaired people delivering services and
supporting each other.
Claire’s story
• Claire in the next slide and her guide dog, Blaize meet a young
visually impaired member of our children’s group and his mother.
• Having attended our set of emotional peer support group sessions,
Claire was inspired to provide counselling and emotional support to
other visually impaired people. She has been sponsored through
Cam Sight to take up a three year counselling course and is in her
second year. Claire is currently employed by Cam Sight one day
per week; she provides one to one support, helps the Cam Sight
counsellor lead the peer support groups and leads a follow-on group
for previous participants of the groups.
Volunteers provide contact and a safety net
for those most isolated and vulnerable
•
Diane, here in the next slide, has been a volunteer with Cam Sight for many
years and runs the Cam Sight Ring-Around Service. In her own words:
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“I just love doing it. We have about twenty-five people on our books at any
one time and we phone them every month. The Cam Sight staff team or the
Liaison Officer at the Hospital Eye Clinic let us know when there is someone
who is alone and would like a call”.
•
The service is a vital safety net – it is a way of checking the most vulnerable
people, often blind and older people living on their own remain safe and
well. Should they have a fall or if anything happens to them, Cam Sight can
make sure someone knows where they are and support them if needed.
•
Many of those who have lost their sight and enjoy the company and human
warmth of the Ring-Around call describe their monthly contact as a lifeline.
Volunteers provide a network of peer
support and information countywide
•
The Cam Sight Rural Support Programme for visually impaired people
provides 15 monthly groups in villages in Fenland, South and East
Cambridgeshire and one in Cambridge City. The groups are supported by
local volunteers and offer friendship; safety, health and other information;
speakers; falls prevention; music; equipment; social support and referral to
Cam Sight and other services.
•
The groups received 1,788 visits in total from clients resident in 54 villages
in 2014-15 and 680 visits by volunteers.
•
In the next two slides, a volunteer speaks about his work and experiences
of setting up a charity to support people in the Congo. He brings a range of
cloths and artifacts for people to try on and pass around as enjoyed by
others in the group in the following slide.
Volunteers provide sports and leisure
activities for health and social
• Five volunteers take visually impaired people tandem cycling every
week; other activities including tennis, running, walking, rowing,
visits to museums and galleries and audio described football
matches.
• The following two slides show one of our regular tandem
partnerships and one of five visually impaired people on tandems
who completed the London to Cambridge Bike Ride for the second
year running.
Jerry’s story
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Technology with speech, magnification and voice recognition supports every
area of life: employment, education, communication, managing information,
shopping and living independently.
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Jerry, Cam Sight Technology Lead provides assessment and training in
computers, iPhones, iPads, SatNavs and scanners. Jerry himself has no
sight and as such is a real inspiration to the people with sight loss he helps
get and keep on-line
•
117 clients attended appointments for Technology training and advice in
2014-15 and regular support for new and returning clients continued to be
provided by telephone.
•
The next two slides show Jerry using speaking software and Jean, a
visually impaired lady in Chatteris using a scanner in our Fenland office.
Warren’s story
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Warren is employed by Cam Sight as a Fundraising Ambassador, having
been diagnosed with sight loss when he was 17 years old. Cam Sight has
supported Warren ever since in a variety of ways and n Warren’s words:
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Going to University is something I thought I would never do when I lost my
sight but getting a 2-1 BA (Hons) degree in History is probably the thing I
am most proud of. It was hard to master deadlines and exams but I gained
touch typing skills through Cam Sight and a scanner to read course books
and these helped me achieve this personal goal like no other in my life.’
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Warren set up the Cam Sight Facebook page and supports Jerry in
providing technology training as shown in the next slide:
Rita’s story
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Rita lives in Fenland and until 2007 worked in Cambridge. She was driving
home from work when she had a haemorrhage behind her eye and never
drove again. Her sight deteriorated rapidly and she had to give up work and
in her words was devastated by her situation. Rita attended an Cam Sight
emotional support group and said:
‘I was devastated about my sight loss, but after coming to the group and
meeting a variety of people and listening to their anxieties I realised there
was hope. I also gained from the equipment and information about what
was available to me. The most helpful aspect though was being able to
share concerns and anxieties with people that understood. I definitely feel
emotionally stronger from being part of the group - I’ve stopped crying”.
Rita then helped Cam Sight set up and run a Low Vision Equipment Centre
in Chatteris and was inspired to run her own group in Chatteris which she
has led with other volunteers since 2009. She now supports the Emotional
Support groups in Fenland and leads a follow-on group there.
The slide shows Rita in the Chatteris Low Vision Centre she helped set up:
Ryan’s story
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It is vital we support young people and their families from the beginning so
they know that Cam Sight is there for them throughout their lives. Our
children and young people services provide life-long skills and support for
pre-school and primary school age children, teenagers and families.
Ryan is an active five year old who loves to play with his little sister. When
he was 10 weeks old, Ryan was diagnosed with Ocular Albinism with
Nystagmus and can now see very little. Ryan's Mum said:
'Cam Sight has supported Ryan since he was five months old when we
started going to their pre-school group. Ryan has a chance to play and
interact with children with similar conditions. The group gives us parents the
opportunity to meet, swap stories and give advice. I have met some
amazing parents through Cam Sight who have helped us through the harder
days. I am hugely grateful to Paula and Helen, the specialist staff from Cam
Sight. Without their help and support, our son and all of us would still be
struggling.”
The final slide shows Cam Sight teaching Ryan to find his way in the world.
Sources
1. Access Economics Pty Limited, Future sight loss UK (1): The economic
impact of partial sight and blindness in the UK adult population. RNIB, 2009
2. RNIB Sight loss data tool, 2014
3. Brown, M.M, G.C., Stein, J.D., Roth, Z., Campanella, J., Beauchamp, G.R.,
(2205) Age-related macular degeneration: economic burden and valuebased medicine analysis, Can J Opthalmol 40:277-87
4. Mykletun A, Bjerkeset O, Overland S, et al. Levels of anxiety and
depression as predictors of mortality: the HUNT study. Br J Psych, 195, 118125, 2009
5. University of Reading, 2009
6. Ahmed A, Lefante CM, Alam N. Depression and nursing home admission
among hospitalised older adults with coronary artery disease; a propensity
score analysis. Am J Ger Cardiol, 16/2, 76-83, 2007
7. Vale, D. Unseen. Neglect, isolation & household poverty amongst older
people with sight loss. RNIB, 2004.
Thank you
www.camsight.org.uk
Registered charity no. 201640