F.F. Jorritsma

Vereniging voor Revalidatie bij Slechtziendheid
Postbus 6711,
NL 6503 GE Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Around 1990 the organization for the rehabilitation for visual impaired adults has changed in the Netherlands. Before, Het Loo Erf, a national institute, offered intramural multi-disciplinary rehabilitation; vocational training was offered by an other national institute, Sonneheerdt, and low vision aids were administered by optometrists working in the ophthalmic departments in hospitals. There was a gape between the mono-disciplinary delivery of low vision aids by the optometrists and the intensive rehabilitation plan of Het Loo Erf. In the early nineties ten regional centres started to offer multi-disciplinary ambulant rehabilitation for visually impaired people.

As a result the number of people involved in delivering the care for visually impaired in the Netherlands has grown in the past years. About 400 ophthalmologists have a task to refer their visually impaired patients to the different care systems. About 170 optometrists are involved administering low vision aids. About 150 people are active in the 10 regional centres and the 2 national centres. Amoung them are social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, low vision specialists, and others.

In 1997 we started a Dutch Society for Professionals in Rehabilitation of visually impaired people. The objectives are to give the workers in this field the opportunity to meet each other and share their knowledge. New ideas can be passed on; the level of the care can be improved more easily. By knowing the colleagues from other institutes and from the other levels in the care system clients are more easily referred to places where they have optimal care for their situation.

We try to reach these goals by organizing symposia twice a year. We started with thematic programs.