When injury, disease, or age-related changes alter vision — or even cause permanent visual loss — adjusting to new circumstances is typically very difficult. However, a therapist trained in low-vision rehabilitation can make all the difference in coping with the challenges brought on by that kind of new situation.

Empathy Care offers a special rehabilitation program with an occupational therapist certified in low-vision rehabilitation precisely for those situations.

Our program includes individualized evaluation, physician care coordination, patient training and education, and home modification that creates a safer environment in which to move around.

Among the strategies Empathy Care employs to optimize functional independence, we include:

• Modification of activities and the home environment;
• Instruction in how to maximize the use of any remaining vision;
• Training in the use of assistive devices and visual aides;
• Reading and handwriting training through therapeutic exercises and activities;
• Information on support groups and low-vision resources in the patient's community.

Our specialist, Jennifer Cigale, MS, OTR/L, holds a Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida (1999), and a Bachelor's Degree in Gerontology from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio (1995). Previously, she held staff positions at a variety of occupational therapy settings, including a highly-rated skilled nursing facility.

To learn more, please call us at (561) 395-9101 or, for out-of-area calls, (800) 606-0856. If you'd prefer, just send an e-mail to our director of rehabilitation.