At the conference titled From Prevention to Vision Rehabilitation. Pathways, Networks and Opportunities organized by Bologna’s Institute for the Blind Francesco Cavazza together with the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted with the support of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Italian chapter, the focus was on the educational and rehabilitation pathway to regaining autonomy for those who have lost all or part of their sight. The event, which was held in Sardinia in September in the beautiful setting of Cagliari, was attended by more than 300 health professionals from all over Italy who came together for a national discussion and reflection on the topic of rehabilitation and preventive intervention in visual impairment. Today, the picture of visual health in Italy is particularly worrying, with the increasing risk of developing diseases that cause blindness and low vision.
Pathologies like glaucoma, retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration are in fact becoming more and more frequent with the ageing population. If, on the one hand, an increasingly extensive monitoring action on the territory is required in order to arrive at early diagnoses and timely treatments that can save sight, on the other hand, one must not give up in the face of blindness but favour paths that foster personal and working autonomy and personal freedom and dignity.
Unfortunately, what transpired from the conference was that although there are effective protocols, and particularly good, high-performance aids, too many people still access centres specializing in visual education and rehabilitation with great delay. Sometimes even years pass between the onset of a severe visual impairment and the first access to a centre specializing in blindness and low vision aids, with obvious negative repercussions for that person and his or her family. Those who are visually impaired today can find an answer at the Cavazza Institute in Bologna where, in addition to many services, there is also a Technology Help Centre for people of all ages. Access is easy and experiencing the various possibilities available can be an opportunity to get back to reading, writing and moving independently.
The services are free.
Personal services
Evaluation of aids and counselling for people living with vision loss.
Technology Help Centre
A place to learn about and experiment with technical aids towards personal autonomy.
Limitless
To learn the use of computer tools necessary for everyday life, a project dedicated to people over 65.
Educational counselling
To provide support to students, families, and teachers for educational needs and school integration.
For information:
+39 051.33.20.90
ausilioteca@cavazza.it–ipovisione@cavazza.it–sce@cavazza.it
Italiano
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