Vision Impairment

The goal of this study is to learn about the outcomes, usability, and accessibility of the online Brain Health Pro program for older adults with hearing difficulties, vision difficulties, or both. Brain Health Pro (BHPro) provides information and practical suggestions about ways people may support their brain health and lower their risk of dementia. The main questions this study aims to answer are: Does participants' knowledge about dementia and its risk factors change after using Brain Health Pro? How usable and accessible is Brain Health Pro for people with hearing or vision difficulties? What factors help or make it more difficult for participants to use and complete the program? About 300 adults aged 55 years and older with hearing difficulties, vision difficulties, or both will take part in the study. Participants will: Use the online Brain Health Pro program for six months. Complete online questionnaires before starting the program and again at 3 and 6 months. Share their experiences using the program, including any difficulties related to hearing, vision, or using the online program. Researchers will also look at whether participants make changes in health behaviours that may support brain health and whether they feel more confident about making these changes.

Providing Access to the Visual Environment is a pediatric low vision grant which has the ability to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary low vision rehabilitation services to every child in Tennessee with a vision impairment. Children, ages 3-21, with best-corrected vision of 20/50 or worse in the better seeing eye are prescribed optical devices to improve their visual functioning and trained to use the devices.

The Proactive Ophthalmic Examination Cohort of Older Adults is a prospective cohort study recruiting community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or older. Through comprehensive assessment of demographic profiles, medical histories, and ocular structural and functional parameters, alongside systematic collection of ophthalmic and systemic clinical data and biological specimens, we will establish a multidimensional, high-quality ocular health database encompassing demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle variables, ocular disease risk factors, subjective ocular symptoms, objective examination findings, and biospecimens. The study will investigate the onset and progression patterns of ocular diseases, associated risk factors, and mechanisms of ocular aging in older populations, while simultaneously providing normal-controlled clinical and genomic data for other clinical studies on eye diseases. Furthermore, leveraging algorithmic innovation and artificial intelligence technologies, we will develop a personalized risk prediction and monitoring platform for age-related eye diseases, enhancing early screening and diagnostic capabilities and advancing precision medicine for ocular health in older adults.