By Aaron Cordy
WHEN Dr Peter Eastaugh lost his vision due to glaucoma four years ago, he saw a gap in local services provided by Vision Australia for the elderly with low vision or blindness.
To help understand the needs of people in the community with low vision or blindness, Dr Eastaugh is holding a free Living Blind forum for seniors at the Mooroopna Education and Activity Centre, on Thursday, October 16, between 10am and 12pm.
“I discovered services were absolutely terrible here. It does appear that Vision Australia focuses the bulk of their services on NDIS clients, and the aged care population get very little support,” said Dr Eastaugh.
“I’ve hooked up with a few older people who have low vision, and they’re getting virtually no services or support. Based upon that, in light of the fact that October is seniors’ month, I thought to myself, if that’s what I’m experiencing, what about the rest of the community here? There must be a huge number of people who are older and are getting no support. In particular, the more disadvantaged pensioner-type people.”
The purpose of the Living Blind forum is to provide community members with an opportunity to share their needs and explore how those needs are being met. Dr Eastaugh is encouraging every senior experiencing low vision or blindness to come to the forum and have their voice heard.
The meeting is on Thursday, October 16, between 10am and 12pm at MEAC, 23 Alexandra Street, Mooroopna. Call (03) 5825 1774 to reserve a seat.
