Awareness of Inclusive Eye Health among Eye Care Professionals

Abstract

Aims:

1. To determine how Eye Care Professionals (ECP) perceive the needs of people with various forms of disability or vulnerability.
2. To highlight the modifications required to remove the barriers and make eye health facilities attainable to all members of society including people with disability (PWD), and marginalized groups.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Duration and Settings of Study: Study duration was three months (September-December 2021) and was conducted at College of Ophthalmology and Allied Vision Sciences, Mayo hospital, Lahore.

Methods: This study was conducted using self-designed questionnaire to evaluate the awareness level of Inclusive Eye Health (IEH) among Eye Care Professionals (ECPS) in Lahore. Questionnaire was pre tested on 10 participants and then necessary changes were made. After descriptive analysis, distribution of responses among different categories of participants was assessed.

Results: Out of total 95 participants, 60 (63.16%) were females. Most of the subjects had adequate level of awareness and knowledge regarding disability etiquettes and their application. But still lack of understanding in few arenas, like sign language, attitudinal barriers, and accessibility exist. There were lack of workshops and training programs on Inclusion and Disability to remove the barriers and to ensure Universal Health Coverage.

Conclusions: Eye Care Professionals had fair level of awareness and knowledge regarding Inclusive Eye Health and Disability. There is still a need of organizing sessions/seminars for ECPs regarding awareness of inclusion, accessibility, and conducting accessibility audit to make hospitals/clinics accessible.