Vision Australia takes pride in supporting people who are blind or have low vision through every stage of their lives.
For Mary Dillon, Vision Australia was there as she made one of the most dramatic changes in her life – moving from her home of 61 years into aged care.
Mary, 93, first connected with Vision Australia in Bendigo, Victoria, six years ago when she developed age-related macular degeneration.
Macular degeneration occurs when the macula at the centre of the retina becomes damaged, causing loss of central vision and affecting activities including reading, writing and examining objects in fine detail.
She has no vision in her right eye and substantially reduced vision in her left because of the condition, the most common cause of blindness in Australians aged 40 and over.
Mary’s son Allen says when Mary first met Vision Australia home care packages case manager Adam English, she was supplied with a magnifying reading lamp and enjoyed visits to Vision Australia’s day centre and guided excursions.
“Vision Australia embraced her, and took her on board. In the early days, when Mum was healthier and quite self-sufficient, they provided visual aids and it was a place for Mum to go get assistance on minor things,” Allen says.
As Mary’s ability to care for herself reduced, Vision Australia’s services changed to meet new challenges including home nursing visits, personal care and other needs.
“Adam and I used to meet every three months to review her care needs. We brought meals into the equation. We bought a personal carer into the equation, and we increased them from three to five days. It was so flexible and so easy, and he organised other things like podiatry and hairdressing,” Allen says.
“It made things so much easier for me and it made Mum’s life better than it would have been because she wouldn’t have had the well organised care that Vision Australia provided.”
In January, the time came for Mary to move to an aged care home. With Vision Australia’s assistance, Mary now lives at Mercy Health’s Bethlehem Home for the Aged.
Mary says: “It’s lovely. You couldn’t get better. They are wonderful. Everybody’s lovely here”.
Allen says he’s grateful for Vision Australia’s support.
“Nothing was too much trouble. It was well organised,” he says.
“Vision Australia provided what we wanted, and they did it well. As Mum’s sole carer, it made me feel more comfortable and it took a lot off the strain of me.”
For more information on how Vision Australia can guide you and your loved ones to access My Aged Care or the National Disability Insurance Scheme, phone us on 1300 84 74 66