Overview
Indigenous Eye Health (IEH) plans to develop additional culturally appropriate eye health promotion resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The main causes of vision loss for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples include refractive error (the need for glasses), cataract and diabetic retinopathy. Trichiasis, as a result of trachoma infections, can lead to blindness and remains a significant issue in remote communities.
Regular eye checks, early detection and treatment help to prevent this unnecessary vision loss and blindness.
The new health promotion resources will assist primary health care providers, including Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners, to promote regular eye checks and awareness of refractive error and cataract.
These resources will build on IEH’s existing health promotion resources and tools that support the improvements in eye health system reform activities in regional collaborations across Australia.
IEH’s Existing Health Promotion
IEH has previously responded to the need for eye health promotion resources for trachoma and diabetes eye care.
In 2010, IEH facilitated the development of the ‘Clean Faces, Strong Eyes’ Trachoma Story kit and, in 2015, the ‘Check Today, See Tomorrow’ suite of print and multimedia resources to promote diabetes eye care.
The uptake and local adaptation of these resources has been very successful in all states and territories in Australia. These free resources can be ordered as hard copies or downloaded from IEH website.
Planned Activities
In 2022, IEH will support the following activities:
- Participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from across Australia in a series of online creative workshops to co-design the resources through sharing of their knowledge, expertise and lived experience
- Develop culturally appropriate health promotion resources including print and digital materials for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and primary care health providers
- Undertake national rollout of the new resources alongside existing resources to support ‘Roadmap’ health system reform activities through regional collaborations across Australia
Further Information
If you would like to have your voice heard, to be involved, or would like to know more, please visit Indigenous Eye Health website or contact the IEH Project Leads: Digby Mercer digby.mercer@unimelb.edu.au or Carol Wynne carol.wynne@unimelb.edu.au