It's interesting that varifocals have been cited as a cause of falls among the elderly. Optician has long been an advocate of linking eyesight and falls but it seems to be a topic that the care and health professions are powerless to address.
The logic is simple: Providing proper eyecare for the elderly is relatively cheap and simple, it provides older people with independence, keeps them in their own homes and happy.
Once an old person has fallen it often causes and injury which is both negatively life-changing, or ending for them, results in a long hospital stay and costs the NHS a lot of money.
Why there can't be joined up thinking in this area is a source of massive frustration to those who camapign on behalf of the elderly and a source of regret for those old people who fall because they can't see obstacles in their way.
It could be argued that those who have got as far as varifocals are being looked after while those who have yet to enjoy any eyecare at all are the ones really at risk.
