Many of the people we support have age related macular degeneration and our eye clinic liaison officer Linda Sethi points out we’re seeing more referrals at an earlier age – 50s and 60s.
It’s the leading cause of irreversible sight loss – although it must be stressed that irreversible doesn’t mean treatment isn’t available. This week is Macular Awareness Week (June 24-30) and our Low Vision Centre and Community Service have been doing their bit to encourage more people to report any vision changes to an optician – because a faster referral for specialist help and earlier intervention can make a huge difference to outcomes.
ECLO Linda was joined by volunteer Robin and Community Services Manager Maria Kirkland at Blackpool Victoria Hospital at the N-Vision stand organised for Macular Week on the mezzanine in the main foyer – and the amount of interest was truly heartening.
It didn’t stop at macular degeneration and macular disease in general either – students from a local school left with leaflets about Charles Bonnet Syndrome as a possible science project and many other leaflets were handed out too.
It also won coverage from the Blackpool Gazette and been well received on our main social media platforms Twitter and Facebook – where our brand-new logo (and brand-new van – thanks to The Garfield Weston Foundation) is also getting an airing.
We’re delighted that eight of our regulars shared their experience of macular degeneration for two articles which have appeared online at Entirely North West and Entirely Health. We can’t thank them enough for helping us raise awareness.
You can find more information here: https://www.entirelyhealth.com/news/northwest/lancashire/sight-loss-it-can-happen-to-anyone-now-these-n-vision-regulars-are-speaking-out-to-help-others8267