Two years since its strategic focus shift, Blind Low Vision New Zealand’s (BLVNZ’s) widened support criteria are making a difference, ensuring more vison-troubled Kiwis receive help, sooner.
Today, BLVNZ has close to 15,000 members (up from about 12,000 in 2019) of which roughly 85% is made up of low vision patients. The number of people on the waiting list has dropped from 1,300 in 2019 to 350-400 in 2022 while the average wait time for assessment has seen a significant drop from 180 days in 2019 to six days now, nearing the international benchmark of five days.
The results are encouraging, said CEO John Mulka. Visual acuity (VA) still forms part of the assessment but mostly when it comes to deciding what service level a patient needs, he explained. “Previously to be a BLVNZ member, a patient needed to have 6/24 VA or worse but now it’s a lot more liberal. A person who struggles to complete a visual task based on their visual impairment – such as reading and writing or identifying familiar objects, carrying out familiar tasks or manoeuvring on their own without a mobility aid – can receive help from us.”
Referrals are also up (4.35% on previous year) and there’s a willingness to collaborate too, said Mulka. Also encouraging is the proportion of younger memberships (under 65), which grew by 9%, he said. “We want people coming to us early in the vision loss journey, not at the end.”
