Latest news with #eye care
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
‘You don't want to go blind': Mobile eye clinic reaches P.E.I. seniors
One P.E.I. optometrist decided to set up a mobile eye care clinic in order to take her services to seniors in long-term care home. Maria Sarrouh reports. Blanche Westaway squinted at the eye chart set up in her Summerside, P.E.I., nursing home, trying to remember her last vision exam. The 77 year old could not, and neither could several fellow residents at the facility. 'You don't want to go blind… a lot of people aren't doing this, and they should be,' Westaway said. Optometrist Jessica Wood is trying to change that. Since April, she has loaded equipment into her Toyota RAV4 and visited care homes across the Island's western region, taking her services straight to seniors and reaching rural communities. On Tuesday morning, her office was the chapel at Wedgewood Manor. 'I've heard 20 years. I've heard never,' Wood said about people's response when asked about their last vision test. 'I have put lenses in front of patients' eyes and had them say, 'Oh, my gosh, I didn't know I could see like this.'' P.E.I. eye exams Optometrist is visiting care homes across P.E.I.'s western region, taking her straight service to seniors and reaching rural communities. (CTV News) She received about $37,500 from the provincial government's Health Innovation Fund for the project, which covered most of her costs, but Wood has invested roughly $20,000 of her own money as well. 'It matters to me a lot,' she said. 'I know that the farther you are from Summerside or Charlottetown, the harder it is to get services.' Wood explained that eye disease rates rise with age, but regular checkups become less likely for older adults, even though timely care can keep their vision from deteriorating. Mobility challenges add another hurdle. Robert Gamble said a recent trip to an eye doctor with his 98 year old mother, Olga, required an accessible taxi and nearly three hours. The convenience of Wood's exam made all the difference. 'This was maybe 30 minutes, so it was quick and easy,' he said. Olga, who has cataracts, is considering surgery. 'I can still do all my puzzles and things like that, crossword and number puzzles,' she said. Wood has set her sights on visiting every long term and community care home in western P.E.I., determined to get patients the help they need, no matter where they live.
Zawya
19-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Eritrea: Eye Surgery for Over 250 Citizens in Golij Sub-zone
As part of ongoing efforts to control blindness, cataract surgery was performed on over 250 citizens in the Golij sub-zone from 7 to 11 July. The surgeries were carried out by a medical team from Berhan Aini Hospital in Asmara. Dr. Merhawi Kiflom, Medical Director of the Golij Community Hospital, stated that the objective of the program was to provide citizens with access to eye care services, including surgical treatment, within their local areas. Mr. Alem Zekarias, Head of the National Blindness Control Program, noted that while cataract surgeries were previously conducted in collaboration with foreign experts, the current program was implemented entirely through local capacity. Dr. Eyob Beyene, one of the participating physicians, explained that cataracts often occur with age and are treatable and curable through timely surgical intervention. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Addenbrooke's Hospital first for eye patient self-testing
A way for eye patients to assess their own sight has been introduced at a hospital after a test was developed during the Covid system, created by Cambridge University Hospitals' consultant paediatric ophthalmologist, Dr Louise Allen, is now being used at Addenbrooke's Hospital in the city and is a first for the allows eye patients to check their sight in a kiosk, synced to their smartphones, and is similar to tests used by results are then discussed with the patient during their appointment. The NHS trust said the new system would save time as it can be done before appointments, while patients are in the waiting traditional testing by a nurse is still available for those who would prefer DigiVis DVA is a web application run on a tablet so can be used anywhere, the trust said. Patients start the test by pairing their smartphone with the tablet over Wi-Fi, without having to download anything on their device. Standing or sitting two metres away from the display screen, patients follow simple instructions and voice prompts to guide them through the kiosk screen displays a line of letters similar to those on a traditional eye test chart, with one highlighted for the patient to match from a selection on their application automatically changes the letter size algorithm directs the test and calculates the smallest letter consistently recognised - an important measure of eye health called distance visual acuity (DVA). The test was first used by the trust during the Covid pandemic and has since been trialled over four years, with the commercial version now being used by other NHS Allen likened the DigiVis DVA test to scanning your own shopping at the said while it might seem awkward at first, people soon get used to it."Trying the test in clinic gives patients the confidence to do it at home before a remote consultation," she said."Patients suitable for this service won't need to travel to hospital so regularly [and] this is particularly important for those in rural locations without transport, and those who find attending a clinic stressful."In future, we hope DigiVis DVA can be used for vision screening and home monitoring for all ages and in multiple areas of our communities to ensure early detection of treatable eye problems."The testing system was developed with support from the Medical Research Council, Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust and Cambridge University Hospital Partners, and a National Institute for Health and Care Research Invention for Innovation grant. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
