Mens sana in corpore sano is an ancient phrase but one which resonates louder with today’s society than with the Romans Juvenal wrote it for.
If evidence for the need of a healthy mind in a healthy body is required then reading of the College’s report into visual impairment and dementia provides it (In Focus). The facts are stark yet depressing and shameful for society. Many elderly people suffering with dementia are having their confusion and isolation compounded by the lack of suitable eyecare.
Those living in care homes are more likely to have poor visual acuity but the optical profession is perfectly capable of giving them the means to increase that acuity to the level needed for independent living. We know that mental and physical activity helps prevent the advance of dementia and that living at home is much more likely in those circumstances. But that care isn’t forthcoming.
This isn’t about getting people to run a marathon. It’s about the frequency and depth of eye examinations to enable vulnerable old people to have the acuity to go out for a walk or leaf through the newspaper and stay living at home.
It is yet another example of a primary care role which optometrists could perform and benefit the whole of society. Given some simple logic and joined up thinking from the NHS and commissioning groups the everyday lives of thousands of elderly people could be improved.
One man who lived by Juvenal’s maxim was former Optician editor Philip Mullins whose death is sadly reported in this week’s issue. Mullins died at 88 a very fit, family man who, till the end liked nothing more than walking the dog, tending his garden and helping his community. A life well lived.