Successful Aging in Assisted Living: The Importance of Near Visual Acuity

Successful aging among independent community-dwelling older adults and those in residential settings is paramount to aging in place. The purpose of the current study was to explore how sensory, cognitive, and functional impairments affect successful aging in assisted living (AL) settings. Vision compromise was noted for near visual acuity (NVA) (14.3%) and distance visual acuity (11.9%). More than one third (34.1%) of participants screened positive for compromised cognition, functional impairment was present in 48.9%, and successful aging was present in 55.7%. NVA and functional status were related to successful aging (r = 0.328, p = 0.004; r = 0.341, p = 0.002, respectively), and explained 9.3% of the variance in successful aging (F[2, 75] = 3.83, p = 0.026). Having a lower NVA score (β = -0.277, p = 0.021) uniquely affected the successful aging score. Interventions supporting AL residents’ sensory and cognitive health should be a priority to improve successful aging.