by admin | Jun 4, 2019 | Events
Volunteers served up grilled hotdogs, burgers, and chicken with plenty of sides as guests connected with old friends and made new ones at Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey’s Beyond Sight picnic. “It is wonderful being here with friends, and meeting new people,” said Wharton resident Misty Hagan as she hugged Rockaway Township resident Alisha Hawkins.
The June 1 event at Vision Loss Alliance’s Denville location celebrated the 76-year-old nonprofit’s past, present and future. It attracted former and current participants — and some newcomers — from all over northern New Jersey. Several members of Vision Loss Alliance’s Board of Trustees and the entire leadership team attended. Art therapy intern Marisa Juliano, music therapy intern Barbara Rose Smith, and drum circle facilitator Alfred Fredel were on hand to lead activities.
Florence Blume and Carol Jaskula made the trek from Clark in Union County. Blume attended Vision Loss Alliance for years, but a lack of transportation options stopped her. “I love it here, and I would be up here all the time, but it takes two hours each way,” she lamented. “I love this, getting together with people who are a pleasure,” said Robin July, who’s in her second year of Vision Loss Alliance’s technology program. “These people are very special to me.”
Longtime participant Lucy Steinthal used her hands to help see molds of faces and art supplies laid out in the art studio. Across the room, guests wrote words and drew images on a canvas expressing what Vision Loss Alliance means to them. “I resent that I can’t do what I once could do, but this place has really helped me cope,” said Steinthal, a Pompton Plains resident. “The support they’ve given me is great.”
Longtime participant and volunteer Peggy Kane of Rockaway Township said, “This has brought people together who haven’t seen each other for a long time.” “I’m having a blast,” said Millburn resident Chris Franz, who took part in the djembé drumming circle. The picnic was also meaningful to community members who helped set up and clean up, served food, and greeted and guided guests. “This is a great experience,” Denville high school student Emily Dobbs said. Volunteers included three members of the Chester Lioness Club.
by admin | May 28, 2019 | News
Morristown Medical Center recently donated $25,000 to Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey to support its low vision occupational therapy program.
“Our committee felt that adding occupational therapy as part of a wellness program was an important component to help people who are losing their sight achieve a healthier and better quality of life,” said Joseph Nazzaro, chair of the Morristown Medical Center Community Heath Advisory Committee. Morristown Medical Center is part of the Atlantic Health System, which operates five other hospitals and another 400 treatment sites in New Jersey.
Nazzaro said the project “fits well with the committee’s mission of funding health-related projects that support our community health needs assessment.” He added: “We were impressed with the collaborative efforts of Vision Loss Alliance and felt our support would be leveraged to a broader reach.”
Vision Loss Alliance’s low vision occupational therapy teaches participants ways to maximize their remaining vision. It covers home safety, cooking, grooming, medication management, paying bills, reading, appropriate lighting, watching television, and using the computer. Program Director Elsa Zavoda, an occupational therapist certified in low vision by the American Occupational Therapy Association, provides the one-on-one sessions.
“Vision loss doesn’t mean life has to stop,” Zavoda said. “People dealing with it can adapt, learning to do things differently.”
More than 160,000 New Jersey residents are either blind or have severe vision loss, and that number is expected to increase as the population ages. Adults age 60 and over make up 20 percent of the state’s residents, but that percentage is projected to grow to more than 25 percent by 2034, according to the state Department of Human Services’ most recent State Strategic Plan on Aging.
“We are grateful to Atlantic Health System, which is committed to building strong communities and recognizes the value of empowering individuals who are blind or visually impaired,” Vision Loss Alliance Executive Director Kris Marino said.
Contact Zavoda at ezavoda@vlanj.org or 973-627-0055, ext. 1335 for more information. Most major health insurance plans, including Medicare, cover low vision occupational therapy.
by admin | Mar 12, 2019 | News
As a nation, we’re getting old. And with aging comes changes to our eyes. The number of people who are blind and low vision in the U.S. is projected to double from by 2050 from 2015 totals. March is Save Your Vision Month. Here are tips from the National Eye Institute for keeping your eyes healthy:
- Get regular dilated eye exams. Glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration often have no warning signs. The earlier they’re detected, the better the outcome.
- Eat well. A vegetable-rich diet nourishes your eyes. Be sure to include spinach, kale or other dark leafy greens. Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids also have eye-health benefits.
- Quit smoking. It’s just bad for you. Smoking increases your risk of eye disease and conditions that can rob you of vision.
- Control your weight. Obesity increases your risk of developing diabetes and other conditions that can lead to vision loss.
- Find out if there’s eye disease in your family. Many eye diseases and conditions are hereditary. It’s important to know if you are at a higher risk.
- Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses protect your eyes from ultraviolet rays. Be sure to choose a pair that block both UV-A and UV-B
- Blinking rests your eyes and helps prevent strain. Make a point of looking away from screens every 20 minutes for at least 20 seconds.
- Wash your hands. And don’t rub your eyes. Keep germs away to avoid infection.
by admin | Feb 11, 2019 | Program
Stacey has a vivid image of the Barnegat Lighthouse in her mind that’s untainted by the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa that makes everything look fractured. “Like a broken mirror,” Stacey explained. Stacey worked for weeks to bring her sunset Jersey Shore memory to life on a large canvas with vivid colors, soft fabrics and plenty of glitter to make her ocean sparkle.
“That’s all her in every way,” said Marisa Juliano, one of three Caldwell University art therapy graduate students interning with Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey’s art therapy class. Juliano helped Stacey consider her options for materials, offered encouragement, and brought supplies to Stacy, who has health problems that make it hard for her to get around. “I asked questions that led her to her own discoveries,” Juliano said.
“The intern program really benefits the students, giving them the extra attention that, as a solo group leader, I can’t give,” said Vision Loss Alliance art therapist Traci Bitondo, a Caldwell University alumna. Jen Albright became the program’s first intern last winter, and is now in her third semester. She has worked for months with David on his Gothic cathedral model. “Jen has helped me take it from the mind into the three-dimensional,” said David, an architecture buff who was born without sight in his left eye.
“We act as the third hand. We assist without being too intrusive,” Albright said. She has been impressed with Vision Loss Alliance. “It offers so many different modalities for wellness,” she said. Intern Alyssa Udijohn added, “We act like vessels to help them create what’s in their heads and make it real. They know what they want to do.”
by admin | Feb 8, 2019 | Program
Sheila gave up reading, cooking, and independent outings when age-related macular degeneration severely affected her vision.
With no sight in her left eye and only peripheral vision in her right, her world shrunk. “It was really hard to accept at the beginning. I suddenly needed help with everything,” the 88-year-old widow said. Sheila’s outlook has changed since completing six sessions of low vision occupational therapy at Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey. “It’s certainly given me more confidence,” Sheila said after a recent session with Vision Loss Alliance Program Director Elsa Zavoda, an occupational therapist certified in low vision by the American Occupational Therapy Association.
Sheila has learned about the importance of room lighting and cutting down glare with special glasses. Using a headlamp and handheld magnifier recommended by Zavoda, “I’m able to read more than I thought,” she said. Zavoda suggested replacing her shade lamps with torchiere lamps strategically placed in her living room and bedroom. “That has really brightened her apartment,” Sheila’s daughter, Fran, said. She’s also cooking again, having learned techniques that keep her safe in the kitchen. The night before, she’d cooked a chicken cutlet and baked potato. “She hadn’t cooked for herself in a long time, and now she’s doing it, and doing it well,” Fran said.
Vision Loss Alliance started offering low vision occupational therapy over the summer to train people to optimize their remaining vision. “Vision loss doesn’t mean life has to stop,” Zavoda said. “People dealing with it can adapt, learning to do things differently.” Zavoda assesses participants’ current vision and life circumstances to help prioritize their goals, and tailors the hour-long sessions to those goals. Safety, cooking, grooming, medication management, paying bills, reading, appropriate lighting, watching television, and using the computer, are among the activities covered. Many health insurance plans cover the cost of low vision occupational therapy.
Occupational therapy is opening her world. Sheila said she may try the dining room at the Basking Ridge senior community where she lives and start taking the community bus to the grocery store and use the magnifier to read food labels. “Before my mom came here, she didn’t have confidence, so she wasn’t trying things,” her daughter said. “Now she realizes there’s a lot she can do.” “This has been a great experience,” Sheila said. “I’ve gotten so much out of it!”
