I. (Iris) van der Lijn, MSc

NAH-Progress: research on visual complaints in patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and dementia

Care for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease and dementia is improving. However, visual complaints and disorders are often neglected, and visual rehabilitation is not always applied. Royal Dutch Visio (Haren) has the knowledge and expertise to make the step towards high-quality clinical care. Consequently, people with neurodegenerative disorders are able to get the complex and specialistic diagnosis and rehabilitation they need. NAH-Progress, a project financially supported by Stichting Novum and ZonMw Expertisefunctie Zintuiglijk Gehandicapten, aims at organizing high-quality chain-based care and scientifically support this need.

In 2016, Royal Dutch Visio, Punt voor Parkinson, MS Centrum Noord-Nederland and the UMCG memory clinic started collaborating. The collaboration concerns patient screening, referral routes and scientific research. Patients who are registered at these centers are screened for visual complaints and if necessary referred to Royal Dutch Visio. Data yielded during this process are collected and analyzed in order to better understand the visual problems patients with neurodegenerative disorders may experience and to support rehabilitation care.

The aim of NAH-Progress is to develop a national guideline for referral, diagnosis and rehabilitation of visual complaints and impairments in patients with MS, Parkinson’s disease and (early) dementia.