From the front room: Catering for all ages at home

A common misconception of our work as domiciliary optometrists is that we spend most of our time testing older people but in fact we visit people of all ages who are unable to leave their homes.

My own preconceptions quickly changed after a half day’s shadowing with Specsavers in the summer after which I switched to domiciliary full-time. Arriving at a rural location, I was directed to a cottage where I was introduced to a 23-year-old woman in a wheelchair. She smiled at me as her carers explained she had suffered brain damage after an accident – she’d been run over by a man using his phone while driving. Her only movement was in one hand, and she had severe speech and communication difficulties.