Clyde Jackson, a U.S. Army and Vietnam War Veteran (pictured above), has been managing his health care with VA Impaired Vision services for ten years.
Jackson works with Kim O’Connell (pictured above), a Vision Impairment Services Outpatient Rehabilitation (VISOR) Computer Access & Technology Specialist, to learn to operate new technologies that make management of his health care more convenient.
Four years ago, O’Connell recommended Jackson learn to navigate My HealtheVet’s health care management services. Jackson began to use My HealtheVet, which is compatible with optical devices, computer assistive technologies, and non-electronic handheld models. He uses specific features with the help of Job Access With Speech (JAWS), which provides screen-reading functionality. JAWS allows users to read the screen either through text-to-speech conversion or Braille display.
“It was easy to create a My HealtheVet account and intuitive to use with my screen reader,” Jackson said. “I have been using My HealtheVet ever since.”
O’Connell’s work with Jackson highlights the many ways in which technological education for visually impaired Veterans can narrow training and skill gaps, leading to better health outcomes. Veterans acquire fundamental knowledge and proficiencies that apply to all technologies and build strong learning habits that streamline future adjustments.
“It was easy to create a My HealtheVet account and intuitive to use…”
“He is much more confident now and can work through things on his own,” O’Connell said. “Even when processes change, he is comfortable knowing that he has the tools to learn and adjust.”
Jackson routinely asks
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