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Grampians — Closing the Gap in Indigenous eye health
Author(s) -
Jatkar Uma,
Anjou Mitchell D,
Taylor Hugh R
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja16.01060
Subject(s) - indigenous , library science , closing (real estate) , citation , sociology , media studies , political science , law , computer science , ecology , biology
The collective work in the Grampians region resulted in a number of outstanding successes. The Grampians Region Aboriginal Eye Health Advisory Group (GRAEHAG) met regularly to drive planning, implementation, data sharing and evaluation to improve eye health outcomes. Gap analysis identified the need for additional optometry services through the Australian College of Optometry, with visits increasing over five-fold from 2012. Additional equipment and training needs were managed through purchase of slit lamps and a retinal camera by the Grampians Medicare Local and the Department of Health andHuman Services (DHHS) for use in local Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS). Health promotion resources, developed with strong local community engagement, contributed to free online material designed for adaptation across Australia. These changes supported an increase of over 55% of patients receiving annual diabetic eye checks from 2013 to 2016.