Eye Health and Dementia: What Carers Should Know

Caring for someone with dementia brings many challenges, and eye health can easily slip down the priority list. Yet maintaining good vision is particularly important for people living with cognitive impairment. Poor sight can worsen confusion, increase falls risk, and reduce quality of life in ways that might be mistaken for progression of the dementia itself.

Someone with dementia may not be able to articulate that their vision has changed. They might not remember that things used to look different or be able to describe symptoms clearly. Changes in behaviour, increased confusion, or withdrawal from activities might actually stem from deteriorating eyesight rather than worsening dementia.

Regular eye examinations become even more important in this context. An optometrist can assess vision and eye health even when the patient can't give reliable verbal responses. Objective tests measure what the eyes are actually doing, regardless of the patient's ability to communicate clearly.

The examination environment matters. Unfamiliar settings can be distressing for people with dementia, which is where home visits prove particularly valuable. Being examined in familiar surroundings, perhaps with a trusted family member present, typically produces a calmer, more successful appointment.

Glasses need to be appropriate and consistently worn. Complex varifocals can be confusing for someone with cognitive difficulties, and simpler single-vision glasses might be more practical. Ensuring glasses are clean, labelled clearly, and stored in a consistent place helps maintain usage.

Some eye conditions are more common alongside dementia. Cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration all increase with age, as does dementia. Managing these conditions remains worthwhile and can genuinely improve quality of life.

Visual hallucinations sometimes occur with dementia or with conditions like Charles Bonnet syndrome that accompany sight loss. Understanding whether hallucinations might have a visual component rather than being purely dementia-related helps carers respond appropriately.

At Atlantic Home Eyecare, our team are Dementia Friends and experienced in working with patients who have cognitive impairment. We take time, adapt our approach, and work alongside carers to ensure the best possible care. Eye health shouldn't be neglected just because other health challenges exist.