Supporting people with sight loss – free RNIB training

Sight loss affects an estimated 33,000 people in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, a figure which is predicted to rise to over 41,000 over the next eight years. There are also almost 5000 people registered as blind or partially signed in the area.

For patients, being told they have a visual impairment that can’t be treated can be difficult to come to terms with, and it’s important that those providing care and support to those with a visual impairment have an up-to-date understanding of sight loss and how it affects patients.

To help staff working in BSW with this, The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the UK’s leading sight loss charity, offers a range of CPD-accredited eLearning web-based and face-to-face modules which aim to help people understand more about sight loss and learn about a range of helpful topics.

Each module focuses on a core theme to help develop the confidence, knowledge and practical skills needed to support people with sight loss, as well as understand some of the challenges they experience.

The courses are available to all staff that have a .nhs or .gov domain email address via Health Education England’s (HEE) Learning Hub.

To access RNIB’s catalogue on the HEE Learning Hub please follow the link below:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/rnib

The four modules available are:

• Communication Matters (Duration 20 minutes)
  An introductory course with handy tips for meeting and greeting people with sight loss. This course will help you to explore how and why it is important to communicate effectively, attitudes to sight loss and recognise practical issues around sight loss
• Feelings, Attitudes and Emotions (Duration 20 minutes)
  An introductory course where you will hear from people with sight loss talking about their personal experiences. You will have a better understanding of how you can respond to and support people with sight loss
• How to guide people with sight loss (Duration 40 minutes)
  Many people with sight loss may have some useful vision but they might welcome help at times, in an unfamiliar place or at night time for instance
• Eye Health and Eye Anatomy (Duration 20 minutes)
  The course provides an overview of common eye conditions, raises awareness of the importance of eye health and signposts to support options available to you.