special subjects
Stroke Rehabilitation
Hemianopia
Patients with hemianopia (defective vision or blindness in half the visual field of one or both eyes) should be made aware of it and taught to move their head toward the hemiplegic side when scanning. Caregivers can help by placing important objects and by approaching the patient on the patient’s unaffected side. Repositioning the bed so that patients can see a person entering the room through the doorway may be useful. While walking, patients with hemianopia tend to bump into the door frame or obstacles on the hemiplegic side; they may need special training to avoid this problem. When reading, patients who have difficulty looking to the left may benefit from drawing a red line on the left side of the newspaper column. When they reach the end of a line of text, they scan to the left of the column until they see the red line, cueing them to begin reading the next line. Using a rule to keep focused on each line of text may also help. 