The LEVRETA Foundation seeks to augment the existing knowledge and skills of all professionals involved in the provision of services to people with a visual impairment and promote, within a diverse group of service providers, an understanding of the specific role of professionals currently practising in health, social care, education and other related sectors.
Course background, philosophy and rationale
The Leonardo European Vision Rehabilitation Education and Training Association started in 1998 as a three-year Leonardo da Vinci programme of the European Commission (EC) to develop and implement a course to train professionals in low vision rehabilitation. Partners in this programme were representatives of rehabilitation organisations in
The aims of the course are three fold.
1. To augment and enhance knowledge, understanding and skills in the field of visual impairment and disability among a diverse group of professionals experienced in the provision of low vision services.
2. To provide, within European partner states, a minimum standard of knowledge and skills in the field on visual impairment and disability among a diverse group of experienced professionals.
3. To facilitate recognition and reciprocity of the low vision qualification within the European partner states.
The course will engender an appreciation of the need to adopt a client-centred, holistic approach to the practice of low vision therapy in order to meet the specific individual needs of the service user. Although particular emphasis has been placed on augmenting knowledge in particular areas such as ocular pathology, optics, the visual consequences of ocular disease and vision training, it is anticipated that the application of this knowledge to practice will enhance not only the quality of the provision but will improve, in the long term, the rehabilitation outcomes to the benefit of the service user.
The design of the course is such that the students are expected to be self-reliant, motivated, independent learners. The application of theory to practice is emphasised. Abilities in problem solving and lateral thinking are promoted in the practical aspects of the programme and the assessment strategies for each module.
In addition, it is anticipated that the generic group of professionals working in this area will adopt an intra- and inter-disciplinary approach to the provision of low vision services. This will promote a sense of enquiry, which is a necessary pre-requisite for, and a primary basis on which a research ethic is developed. The course, by engendering an appreciation of the need for research, will lay the foundation for future developments within the professions involved in low vision therapy. Furthermore the free movement of professionals within the