Acceptability of fall prevention strategies for older people with vision impairment

Despite the high risk of falls for older people with vision impairment, adherence to exercise-based fall prevention programs is low. We investigated the attitudes of older people with vision impairment to fall prevention programs as well as home modifications. This was completed through focus group and semi-structured interviews with 19 community-dwelling people aged ≥63 years with vision impairment. The results indicated that participants did not attribute falls to vision impairment, nor consider themselves appropriate candidates for a fall prevention program. Participants also reported such barriers as competing priorities, transport issues and comorbidities. It is recommended that exercise-based fall prevention programs cater to the unique challenges of this population, such as delivery in home by Orientation and Mobility Specialists.