WHAT’S THE BEST LIGHTING FOR CARE HOMES?

What type of lighting helps your residents’ eyes/vision?

Did you know that the lighting you have in your care homes has an impact on your residents’ vision? Conducting eye tests at home for the elderly may help understand how your lighting may impact your residents.

Your residents, especially those with limited vision, need much more illumination from the lighting they use, and it is vital to control the intensity and contrast of their lights and reduce any glare from these. You should help your residents consider what type of lighting will help their vision the most during their daily routines:

• Overhead lighting – this is the general ceiling lighting that lights up the whole room that you are in

• Task lighting – this is the lighting (such as a lamp) that is used for a particular activity, such as reading, crafting, looking at photos

Home eyecare: delivering optimum vision for your residents

Here’s some advice to consider when thinking about lighting to help you deliver optimum vision for your residents (whether they’re glasses wearers or not):

• Try to eliminate shadows in rooms your residents are occupying by making sure the lighting is nice and bright throughout the room. This will help exclude any darkness or shadows.

• Try to reduce glare from lighting. Some quick wins to support this would be to provide lampshades on all lights, soften bright daylight through the windows with sheer curtains or netting, and cover shiny work surfaces and floors with a rug.

• Consider using an adjustable lamp for your residents’ task lighting. It is best that you ensure your resident moves the lamp close to their activity (e.g. reading) and position it to the side of their work and not in front of them. When your resident is writing, encourage them to position the lamp on the opposite side of the hand being used. The lamp should be set at a low eye level too. These suggestions will help reduce glare and also shadows while they enjoy their activity.

• In the hallways and stairways of your residential or care homes, make sure that there is sufficient lighting to illuminate the floors, walls, steps, railings and any other potential trip hazards. This will help reduce trips and falls for your residents.

• It’s really important to keep all your rooms evenly lit as it becomes increasingly difficult for your resident’s eyesight to adjust to different lighting as they go from room to room in your care home .

What lighting should I use in the office?

For care home staff who have to use the computer or write notes in the offices or at reception desks, it is just as important that you look after your eyes too. Here are some tips to help you with your office lighting:

• Consider the position of our computer in relation to a window. You should not have the window behind or in front of you when you work as this produces a lot of glare that is not good for your eyes. Consider a parallel position instead.

• Consider turning off or limiting fluorescent ceiling lighting as this is very bright and glary. Use a desk lamp instead to soften the lighting.

• Adjust the brightness on your computer screen, mobiles and other electricals to avoid squinting your eyes at the screen.

• Remember the 20/20/20 rule, which is every 20 minutes stop looking at the screen and focus for 20 seconds on something at least 20 feet away. Your eyes will appreciate this exercise.

Eye Tests at Home for the Elderly

We hope you have found this information useful. At Opticall, we provide a home-visit optician appointment service for those unable to make it to the high street. The optician will visit your home or care home and will deliver a professional eye care service, from a thorough regular eye examination to hand-delivered/fitted glasses, if needed. Please ask one of our mobile opticians on their next visit if you have any questions or concerns about your lighting provision, we will endeavour to help you with this.

To book a home eye examination with one of our optometrists, please call us on 0208 998 4228 or use our online form here .

Do you think you may qualify for free eye tests at home for the elderly? Please click here to find out about our eyecare services. and to see if you are eligible for free nhs sight tests.