Seva’s Evidence in Practice (EIP) program focuses on increasing the ability of eye care institutions to research and improve upon their practices to reach even more people. As a part of the EIP program, The Lumbini Eye Institute and Research Centre (LEIRC) based in Bhairahawa, Nepal, created a study to improve the number of people coming to their hospital for diabetic retinopathy treatment.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is quickly becoming a major cause of vision loss and blindness in low- and middleincome countries. Worldwide, about one in three people living with diabetes will develop DR, and one in ten will develop a vision-threatening version of the disease that can lead to irreversible blindness without treatment. Knowing that early detection and treatment of DR is necessary to preserve sight, LEIRC wanted to increase the number of people going to the hospital for further treatment after they were diagnosed with DR at their local Community Eye Centre (CEC).
With the help of experts provided through the EIP program, LEIRC developed and executed a rigorous study protocol to determine the best way to ensure patients got the treatment they needed.
What the Study Showed:
The results of the study showed that a package of new techniques for engaging patients with DR including counselling on the disease, follow-up calls, referral text messages, and fast-tracking of patients once they reach the hospital, increases the number of people getting treatment by almost 30%.
The LEIRC team is very happy with the results of the study and implemented the new protocol across all their Community Eye Centres (CECs). In addition, the team reported that the process of this study also helped them better track referrals of all eye health issues from their CECs to their base hospital.
To share their findings with other hospitals and professionals who might face similar issues, LEIRC published the results of their study in a peer-reviewed journal. The article can be found here:
https://www.seva.ca/research/research-studies/
