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Recommendations

  • The National Positive Ageing Strategy should adopt a person-centred approach to ageing, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. People are expected to live longer and as a result the number of people who acquire sight loss will increase. In addition, people who have been living with sight loss for many years, in some cases all of their lives, do not stop accessing vision-related services once they reach the age of 65. A person-centred approach will take these issues into account and provide a clear pathway to enable a person with reduced vision to dip in and out of both older people’s services and vision-related services, where appropriate.
  • State support for an eye exam every two years for people over the age of 40, to enable early detection for eye conditions such as AMD and Glaucoma. The cost of prevention is considerably less than the cost of treatment and rehabilitation.
  • Planning and provision for the roll out of a national screening programme for Diabetic Retinopathy.
  • The provision of an appropriate public transport network, particularly in rural areas, to ensure older people, particularly those with disabilities, can access health and social services.
  • Continued State support for specialised care services such as those provided by NCBI, which are in high demand and cater mostly for older people.
  • Non-NCBI Day Care Services for older people to be disability-proofed.
  • Review and remove unfair age limits on certain entitlements, benefits and services for people who have a disability.
  • Development of clearer information on entitlements for older people, including those with disabilities.
  • An approach to promote a more positive attitude to ageing and older peoples’ participation in society.
  • The positive ageing strategy should address the growing digital divide by urging the Government to put in place universal, affordable broadband access.
  • Inaccessibility of websites and online services is a serious problem for older people with sight loss. The Strategy should promote the development of accessible websites as the norm.
  • Put in place firm plans and resources to ensure compliance with the various European and international agreements and initiatives to which Ireland has signed, which will help achieve even a minimum level of digital inclusion.
  • For Digital Terrestrial Television to be fully accessible to older people, it should be affordable and easy to set up; equipment must be designed to be easy to learn and use. Retrofitting is more costly than designing with older people in mind at an early stage.