Box of tricks

As a consequence of the older age of patients seen in domiciliary work, inevitably there will be a number with poor vision, with limited scope for improvement with refraction alone. Some will clearly benefit from referral to the local low vision clinic (if there is one), while others will have had limited success with hand magnifiers. Many older people with poor vision miss being able to look at photographs of grandchildren, or postcards and photographs from friends and relatives (Figure 1). However, photographs taken with a digital camera have the advantage of being able to be displayed on a television screen, with significant magnification. The camera can also be adapted to create a simple and inexpensive low vision aid (LVA). This system is offered as an aid for use in the patient's own home, and works surprisingly well.