The ability to see deeply affects how human beings perceive and interpret the world around them. For most people, eyesight is part of everyday communication, social activities, educational and professional pursuits, the care of others, and the maintenance of personal health, independence, and mobility. Functioning eyes and vision system can reduce an adult's risk of chronic health conditions, death, falls and injuries, social isolation, depression, and other psychological problems. In children, properly maintained eye and vision health contributes to a child's social development, academic achievement, and better health across the lifespan. The public generally recognizes its reliance on sight and fears its loss, but emphasis on eye and vision health, in general, has not been integrated into daily life to the same extent as other health promotion activities, such as teeth brushing; hand washing; physical and mental exercise; and various injury prevention behaviors. A larger population health approach is needed to engage a wide range of stakeholders in coordinated efforts that can sustain the scope of behavior change. The shaping of socioeconomic environments can eventually lead to new social norms that promote eye and vision health. Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow proposes a new population-centered framework to guide action and coordination among various, and sometimes competing, stakeholders in pursuit of improved eye and vision health and health equity in the United States. Building on the momentum of previous public health efforts, this report also introduces a model for action that highlights different levels of prevention activities across a range of stakeholders and provides specific examples of how population health strategies can be translated into cohesive areas for action at federal, state, and local levels.

The classic reference covering the diagnosis and treatment of all major ophthalmic diseases, as well as neurological and systemic diseases causing visual disturbance-extensively revised and updated Features State-of-the-art coverage of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic interventions for the full range of ophthalmic disorders Chapters dedicated to ophthalmic therapeutics, neuro-ophthalmology, ocular disorders associated with systemic diseases, immunologic diseases of the eye, pediatrics, genetics, preventive ophthalmology and lasers The latest clinical perspectives on such topics as: Treatments for age-related macular degeneration, including anti-VEGF therapies Intraocular steroid injections for retinal diseases Immunomodulatory drugs Treatment of corneal infections Medical and surgical treatments for glaucoma Detailed appendices on visual standards, practical factors in illumination, rehabilitation of the visually handicapped, and special services available to the blind Latest references

This thoroughly updated and extended edition covers the various cerebral visual disorders acquired after brain injury, as well as the rehabilitation techniques used to treat them. These are described within a brain plasticity framework, using data from single and group case studies along with follow up observation data. This original, tailor-made approach also includes the recording of eye movements for assessing scanning performance in scene perception and reading. The book gives a brief synopsis of the historical background on the subject, alongside an outline of intervention designs and methodological difficulties in the field, and goes on to discuss the mechanisms and processes that provide the foundations for recovery of function and successful adaptation in visually impaired patients. The author concludes by analyzing the importance of the procedures and outcomes of treatments to the reduction of patients’ visual handicaps. The new edition also contains an appendix with recommendations on the case histories, diagnostics and treatments. It is ideal reading for students in clinical neuropsychology, as well as professionals in the fields of neurology, visual neuroscience and rehabilitation experts.

When children and adults apply for disability benefits and claim that a visual impairment has limited their ability to function, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is required to determine their eligibility. To ensure that these determinations are made fairly and consistently, SSA has developed criteria for eligibility and a process for assessing each claimant against the criteria. Visual Impairments: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits examines SSA's methods of determining disability for people with visual impairments, recommends changes that could be made now to improve the process and the outcomes, and identifies research needed to develop improved methods for the future. The report assesses tests of visual function, including visual acuity and visual fields whether visual impairments could be measured directly through visual task performance or other means of assessing disability. These other means include job analysis databases, which include information on the importance of vision to job tasks or skills, and measures of health-related quality of life, which take a person-centered approach to assessing visual function testing of infants and children, which differs in important ways from standard adult tests.

Neurology of Vision and Visual Disorders, Volume 178 in the Handbooks of Neurology series provides comprehensive summaries of recent research on the brain and nervous system. This volume reviews alterations in vision that stem from the retina to the cortex. Coverage includes content on vision and driving derived from the large amount of time devoted in clinics to determining who is safe to drive, along with research on the interplay between visual loss, attention and strategic compensations that may determine driving suitability. The title concludes with vision therapies and the evidence behind these approaches. Each chapter is co-written by a basic scientist collaborating with a clinician to provide a solid underpinning of the mechanisms behind the clinical syndromes. - Reviews the neurological underpinnings of visual perception disorders - Encompasses the cortex to the retina - Covers functional organization, electrophysiology and subcortical visual pathways - Discusses assessment, diagnosis and management of visual perception disorders - Includes international experts from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, and the UK and US

Providing the information required to understand, advocate for, and supply post-acute vision rehabilitative care following brain injury, Vision Rehabilitation: Multidisciplinary Care of the Patient Following Brain Injury bridges the gap between theory and practice. It presents clinical information and scientific literature supporting the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies applied in a comprehensive overview of current diagnostic and treatment strategies in adult post-brain injury vision rehabilitation. Includes a foreword by Dr. Sue Barry Because post-brain injury rehabilitation works best in a team setting where the entire person can be treated, this text has been carefully designed as a multidisciplinary resource with an emphasis on models for working with the rehabilitation team. The book covers a myriad of topics such as post-brain injury vision rehabilitation; eye movements; binocular dysfunction; visual field loss; visual-spatial neglect; shifts in visual egocenter affecting balance and coordination; visual-vestibular interactions; central vs. peripheral visual attention; as well as deficits in object perception, visual memory, and visual cognition. The book details models that vision specialists working with the rehabilitation team can use to achieve the best success for the patient in rehabilitation; vision rehabilitation concepts and the science from which they have been developed; examples of therapeutic exercises; practice management information for the post-brain injury vision rehabilitation practice; and information on the legal process in which one frequently becomes involved in this type of work. Edited by eminent clinicians, the book highlights the work of contributors who are well-respected academicians and researchers, bringing together the clinical information that enables everyone involved in a brain injury case to grasp the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.