Social isolation can affect anyone of any age. In this course, Dr. Sheffield discusses factors like age, vision impairment, and overall health status and how they contribute to placing individuals at higher risk for social isolation. Evidenced-based strategies to combat social isolation are provided. Additionally, the course looks at vision rehabilitation and its role in reducing social isolation.

This course is available for CRC, ACVREP, and NBPCB credit.

Course Objectives:

1. Explain at least three of the demographic risk factors for social isolation and loneliness in older adults, which are supported by current research,
2. Discuss the connections between isolation, loneliness, and blindness or visual impairment and explain why older adults with vision loss are at particularly high risk,
3. Name at least three negative consequences of social isolation and loneliness that have been identified by current research,
4. Describe and locate at least one screening tool that can be used to identify lonely or socially isolated or adults, and
5. Identify at least three evidence-based programs that might be used to help older adults who are blind or visually impaired strengthen the meaningful social connection.

The following are recommended screen reader and browser combinations.

Mac: Voiceover with the latest version of Safari,

PC: JAWS or NVDA with Firefox.

Note that currently, course quizzes are not functioning properly for Microsoft screen reader users with Chrome or Edge.

The course shows a start date, but this is simply the date the course was made available to the public. They are self-paced. So, there is not an end date. You can enroll at any time.

This course was developed by the National Research & Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University. We are the only national center funded to conduct research related to employment for people with blindness or low vision, and training and technical assistance for the federal Older Individuals who are Blind program. As a national center of excellence, we offer resources on a variety of topics for service providers, businesses, and persons with vision loss on our websites:

For daily content relevant to the field of blindness and low vision, connect with us on social media: