According to previous studies, eyesight has a strong influence on a person’s quality of life. Therefore, it is important that the eyeglass prescription of a person wearing eyeglasses is up-to-date. The lightning of one’s living environment should also be at appropriate level for pleasant living.

Our project contained organizing two vision examination events in Ii. The first event was organized for the residents of a sheltered home in Ii, and the other took place in Nikkari, a nearby rehabilitative day activity unit. The aim of the events was to examine whether the eyeglasses used by the elderly people were up-to-date, how they felt about their vision, and how appropriate the lightning in the sheltered home was.

We interviewed elderly people about their own feeling about their vision and any possible problems regarding it. We determined their visual acuity to close and long range and attempted to improve it with small lens additions ranging from -1.5 to +1.5 diopters over their current eyeglasses. When needed, we recommended a visit to an eye specialist. A total of 12 elderly people attended our examinations. We also measured the lightning level and evaluated its quality in the sheltered home.

Nearly everyone attending the vision examinations considered their vision with their current eyeglasses to be good enough for long range. However, considerable amount of the elderly thought that they did not see as well as they would have liked to a close range with their current multifocal or reading glasses. The lightning of the environment was mostly thought to be suitable. Most of the elderly people attending our vision examinations had normal or higher visual acuity to close and long range. The visual acuity of several examinees improved by adding some lenses over their current eyeglasses, in which case we recommended acquiring of new eyeglasses with up-to-date lens powers. The lightning in the sheltered home in Ii was up to standards.

We gathered feedback on our vision examination events from everyone attending. The elderly appreciated us examining their vision in their own environment. Many people told us they had gotten valuable information about their eyesight. We organized our project in Ii, but it could have been organized anywhere. By revising the content of the vision examination, it could also include people who cannot, for example, communicate normally or get out of bed at all.