Look Who it Was Random video

Supporting people with sight loss affected by cancer - Macmillan Cancer Support

340 views · Published 23 January 2017 · 3:35 · Indexed 2 October 2026

Channel: Macmillan Cancer Support · 2017 · Nonprofits & Activism

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This cancer information video gives advice and guidance on how healthcare professionals should interact with blind and partially sighted patients, throughout their cancer experience.
The information in the video was correct as of 1 October 2015

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Text transcript below
I’m Amanda Hawkins and I’m the senior manager for the Emotional Support Service here at RNIB and RNIB is the Royal National Institute for Blind and partially sighted people. What blind and partially sighted people tell us is when they’re in a hospital setting and they are being treated, quite often it’s not them that gets spoken to, it’s the people that are next to them, whether or not that’s their partner or child, whoever’s gone with them. So actually remember to talk to the person with sight loss and know that they can fully understand what’s going on.
It’s really important to be aware of the Disability Discrimination Act and that everybody has the right to be treated equally and I think that applies to any setting. GPs and other health professionals need to be aware that, whereas people with sight will be able to check for things, such as moles changing, blood in stools and stuff like that, blind and partially sighted people won’t necessarily be able to do that. Most blind and partially sighted people have been through an adaptation process around their sight loss and just for people to be aware of stepping in to another diagnosis around cancer, will have another impact on them. So there’s a dual emotional impact and I think it’s really good to be aware of that.
David: When I was 40 I was diagnosed with an eye condition called glaucoma and I was registered blind in my early 60s. Patients with cancer are usually offered information on leaflets, I believe that this is also available for blind people in other formats, such as CDs. But in my case, I have done some research on the internet because I am still able to use a computer. Because I can’t see the screen on the computer, I use a screen reader, which is a synthetic voice, which reads out all the words.
Amanda: Making sure that there’s accessible information is really, really important. Everyone has the right to be able to read their own diagnosis or any supporting information around that. There’s a range of formats that suit people’s needs, whether or not that’s Braille, in large text or audio. I think that it’s really important that whoever is referring on gets permission to share the fact that the patient has sight loss of any kind so that provision can be made at the other end and the right support can be put in from the beginning and that the blind or partially sighted person themselves don’t have to kind of fight and argue for the right access.
Firstly, show them where the seat is, a lot of people don’t realise that people can’t find the seat will need to sit down, be shown where the seat is and how to safely get in to that seat. But just kind of include them, I think a lot of blind and partially sighted people feel isolated in spaces where there are sighted people because other people rely on their eyes to make contact and obviously blind and partially sighted people can’t always do that. The RNIB has a helpline that you can ring and we do some consultancy work and will work with other healthcare professionals to make sure that that person’s needs can be more fully met.

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