This program provides Outaouais residents of all ages with specialized rehabilitation, adaptation or compensatory technical aids related to significant vision loss, diagnosed by a recognized professional (optometrist or ophthalmologist).

The services are for people of all ages with:

• A visual impairment that meets the RAMQ’s definition of a visual handicap.
• Low vision or blindness affecting lifestyle.

The purpose of this program is for the client to develop and/or adjust to his visual condition in order to regain optimal functional independence in carrying out daily activities.

Additional information: the service is governed by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec and falls under the technical visual aids component, thereby allowing required technical aids to be acquired (rented) or repaired.

How do I access the services?

A rehabilitation/adaptation service request should be submitted by an ophthalmologist and/or optometrist, and forwarded to the ID-PD-ASD program access point.

Professionals

The services are provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals from a variety of disciplines who will assess your needs and provide you with the services required based on availability:

• Special educator
• Occupational therapist
• Optometrist
• Orientation and mobility specialist (OMS)
• Psychologist
• Visual impairment rehabilitation specialist
• Social worker

Home care support services 

• Social intervention home care support
• Nursing care
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Nutrition
• Respiratory therapy
• Home help
• Services for family caregivers
  Examples: bio-psycho-social needs assessment, protective supervision, wound care, fall prevention, functional assessment, help with personal hygiene, respite care, etc.

Rehabilitation services

• Multidisciplinary assessments of the needs of the person and his relatives as to the reason for the referral and the disruption of daily activities.
• Multidisciplinary individual and group interventions.
• Psychosocial support assessments and interventions for clients and their relatives to help them adjust to the impact of visual impairment and with social/academic/community integration.
• Interventions to help the client effectively and safely develop compensatory skills and abilities.
• For children, provide optimal circumstances for the patient’s overall developmental potential.
• Technical aid assessment, procuring, testing and training.
• Training to maximize the patient’s visual potential.
• Braille lessons for adults and pre-Braille lessons for children.
• Prescriptions for optical aids following an assessment of the client’s visual potential.
• Assessments of client’s individual computer needs, as well as testing, procuring and training for recommended aids.
• Home adaptation assessments and interventions (for aids to daily living) and generalization of gains related to visual impairment.

Group interventions

• Tips & Tricks to provide clients with various methods to help them achieve optimal independence and foster their integration into their living environment.
• Support for people with low vision to help clients shift from the notion of loss to that of ability. Patients are taught to recognize the stages of loss as well as their perception of their experience, and are encouraged to explore their abilities as well as coping strategies.
• Water-walk, to help patients improve mobility and balance while walking using the properties of water.

Highly specialized services

• Sound-based clinical computing solutions and Braille access for training and teaching provided by the Nazareth and Louis-Braille Institute (INLB-CISSS Montérégie-Centre) for Francophones, and the MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre-CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de l’Île-de-Montréal for Anglophones.
• Accompaniment grant for clients with dual impairment (hearing and visual) provided by Raymond-Dewar Institute (IRD).

Where are services provided?

Home care support services are provided in the individual’s living environment.
The rehabilitation service team is centralized at 92 St-Raymond Blvd., Suite 100, Gatineau, but some ambulatory services are delivered throughout the territory.