Experts from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences support outreach events by meeting with community members around central Ohio at health fairs to educate the public on eye health and the importance of learning about eye diseases, especially diabetic retinopathy – a leading cause of blindness. The goal of these public education events is to improve knowledge on eye health, preserve vision quality and prevent vision loss with the early detection of conditions such as diabetic neuropathy, glaucoma, hypertensive retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Raising awareness of diabetes management and healthy eyes
Providers offered information on eye health to the hundreds of attendees of the 4th Annual Columbus VisionWalk 2024, sponsored by Foundation Fighting Blindness.
An event at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Healthy Community Center featured a conversation with ophthalmologist Carla Ford, MD, who spoke about eye heath and the impact of diabetes on vision.
Department Chair Sayoko Moroi, MD, PhD, says that in addition to these two events in 2024, the team is planning four educational programs in 2025. Our collaborative effort involves meeting with leaders of four different community centers around central Ohio who are interested in learning about the importance of diabetes management and healthy eyes, Dr. Moroi says.
“We want people to understand that they can modify their behavior to prevent and really decrease serious diabetic complications in the eye,” Dr. Moroi says.
The department is also taking part in a multisite, National Institutes of Health-funded project to study the use of teleophthalmology in rural settings. Ophthalmologist Matthew Ohr, MD, is the site PI for I-TRUST: Implementation for Teleophthalmology in Rural Health Systems. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an implementation program on the proportion of patients with diabetes who are adherent with yearly diabetic screening guidelines and evaluate whether those interventions make a difference to the continued success of the program.
Improved access and research opportunities
In the future, Dr. Moroi wants to collaborate with free clinics in the region to provide expanded access to care for patients who are underinsured or uninsured. Potential partners include free clinics within the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center system and federally qualified health centers.
Non-health care settings, such as barber shops, beauty salons, places of worship and schools, are other possible arenas for closing accessibility gaps.
“We are very open to talking with stakeholders about alternative settings for care that could be useful to serve population health,” Dr. Moroi says. By improving overall access to eye health, Dr. Moroi also wants to engage populations that are underrepresented in research studies. She envisions creating a database of eye images that are de-identified. Such an image biobank can then be used for further research.
“The retina is a treasure trove for discovery,” Dr. Moroi says. “The blood vessels, optic nerve and retinal layers contain many structures that represent overall health.”