Welcome to our Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation "Off the Topic" issue that covers a variety of rehabilitative care topics to help you assist your patients with their rehabilitation goals. In our last issue, Issue Editor Julie Ann Nastasi, ScD, OTD, OTR/L, SCLV, CLA, FAOTA, beautifully presented a thought-provoking issue on the topic of "Low Vision." The evidence presented in that issue provided a much-needed focus on a topic that is sometimes missed during examination and intervention planning for our aging patients. As an extension from that issue, we are presenting 3 additional articles on the topic of low vision to further give you information on this very important topic. Before we delve into the highlights from this issue, let us stop ... take a deep breath ... and open our minds to this plethora of research and evidence. By advancing our learning, we can achieve a deeper knowledge base that will enable us to provide the high-quality care that our aging patients so desperately need.
We are privileged to receive submissions of evidence-based research articles from all over the world. In this issue, we will highlight articles from the United States, Turkey, Spain, and Iran. Let us consider various physical impairments that our patients present to us with and what evidence we can refer to in implementing best practice treatments.
* Do your patients with low vision need to be able to drive? In some communities, transportation departments collaborating with clinical experts may allow adults with low vision to utilize a bioptic telescope lens system to improve visual acuity (and safety) during driving.
* Do your patients with low vision show depressive symptoms? Some studies support the hypothesis that older adults from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups with low vision may be at more risk for depression than White older adults with low vision.
* Do your patients with low vision exhibit feelings of loneliness? Occupational therapists or other rehabilitation professionals may be able to decrease loneliness in older adults with visual impairments by using interventions that improve independence in daily life.
* Do you have older patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and present with residual problems? Older individuals affected by COVID-19 may present with effects on balance, perception, attention, memory, and quality of life, all of which would benefit from rehabilitative treatment of these problems.
* Does a discharge planning program benefit patients leaving the hospital? This study shows that patients in a discharge planning program experienced reduced recurrent falls, lower severity of injury in subsequent falls, and shorter hospital stays in subsequent visits.
* Do your patients with Parkinson disease demonstrate cognitive deficits that are impacting their performance-based activities of daily living? This study demonstrates the use of performance-based task using both questionnaires and observational testing for the assessment of cognitive deficits associated with neurological disease.
This issue presents evidence on a variety of clinical presentations that you may encounter as you evaluate and treat your older adult patients. It is critical that we are knowledgeable about current research and best practices for our patients. Let's read ... let's learn ... and let's implement best practice for our patients.
-Wendy Powers James, PT
Managing Editor of Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation