Introduction

Globally, at least 2.2 billion (one in four) people have visual impairment. Most are 50 years of age or older. However, vision loss can affect people of all ages.

Visual impairment can be congenital (exist from birth) or can develop throughout life due to disease, injury, exposure to medicines and/or the ageing process.

Visual impairment influences an individual’s ability to read everything from medicine labels to product information sheets, as well as to differentiate between medicine containers and tablets or capsules.

More than 1.5 billion people (nearly one in five) worldwide live with hearing loss. Hearing impairment can be congenital or can develop throughout life due to disease, exposure to specific medicines, or as part of the ageing process.

People with uncorrected hearing impairment are at higher risk of social isolation, depression and dementia, and they often have difficulty accessing information in the pharmacy, including dose and administration instructions.

The consultation journey

For this article, the concept of a ‘consultation journey’ is used to illustrate how a person with sensory impairment might experience a pharmacy consultation.