Detroit Visits Battle Creek for White Cane Awareness

These Low Vision Veterans and staff members from Detroit Visual Impairment Services Team (VIST) met for a building tour at our Low Vision Clinic at 11:30am before the walk and visited over refreshments in the Auditorium after the walk. 

Staff members from Detroit’s Intermediate Low Vision Clinic have built a valued partnership with our Visual Impairment Services Outpatient Rehabilitation (VISOR) team over the years and were proud to join in the awareness day festivities. “When I am telling my Veterans about the variety of options and levels of care that we can offer, I can tell them that I have 100% confidence in referring them to the team in Battle Creek,” said Jennifer Troyer, LMSW, VIST Coordinator. “Our Veterans are going through some of the most difficult, life changing adjustments they’ve ever experienced. I know that I am referring them to a team that not only has exceptional knowledge and training ability but that they are a team that is thoughtful, insightful as well as adept at listening and providing emotional support. It is not an exaggeration at all to say that they have helped saved lives.”

There are several levels of care for Veterans and service members experiencing vision loss throughout VISN 10, from Basic Low Vision Optometrists to the inpatient Blind Rehabilitation Center in Cleveland.  The VISOR in Battle Creek includes Low Vision Optometry, Low Vision Therapy, Orientation and Mobility, Living Skills, and Computer Access Technology programs. Detroit, Saginaw, and Ann Arbor VIST’s refer Veterans to Battle Creek VISOR Team when more comprehensive services are needed than what is offered at their local site.

Last week’s event was a reunion of sorts for many of the visiting Veterans and staff members. Prior to pandemic restrictions, many of these Low Vision Veterans made previous trips to Building 3 for awareness events and even treatment, so our Low Vision staff were already familiar to most of the Detroit Veterans in attendance. Veterans also remained connected during the pandemic through VA Video Connect (VVC) appointments and virtual meetings. “Battle Creek’s VISOR team was at the forefront of getting creative to reach Veterans via virtual care at the onset of the pandemic,” added Troyer. “Their team was ready not only to provide training virtually via VVC, but they also quickly jumped on requesting digital divide iPads for Veterans struggling to learn how to connect. Battle Creek partnered with VISTs to send VA-loaned devices to the Veterans to be used in tandem with their personal devices. This allowed instructors to see how Veterans were using the programs and to provide more thorough verbal description as they were training/guiding Veterans to achieving their training goals.” Staff within the VISN also met monthly during the pandemic to share best practices for Veteran care.

The White Cane is an internationally recognized symbol of blindness and an important tool in helping the blind and visually impaired to live and work independently while giving back to their communities. White Cane Safety Day is celebrated on October 15 each year to acknowledge the abilities of people who are blind and to promote equal opportunities for them to live as any other American. We were happy to host the low vision Veterans and staff for this year’s festivities, and we hope this partnership continues to thrive.