Tribal Vision Impairment Prevention Project (Tribal VIP Project)

Oregon Health and Science University: Center for Healthy Native Communities

Topics:
Diabetes | Vision Loss

This project aims to increase residents’ access to eye exams, improve the quality of life for residents who need prescription eye glasses, reduce the risk of blindness for residents who have diabetes, and determine the extent and possible causes of the community’s visual impairments. Visual impairment is the second-leading cause of disability among American Indians living in the Pacific Northwest, and contributes to this population’s diminished quality of life by limiting their ability to pursue educational and employment opportunities, social interactions, interests, and hobbies. Only 2 of the 43 American Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest have an eye care provider, and most tribal members must travel 60 miles or more to have an eye exam.

To address these issues, the center collaborated with the Tribal Community Advisory Council, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, and the Devers Eye Institute to design, implement, and evaluate this project. About 450 residents from 3 tribes are participating: Umatilla in Oregon, Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho, and Lummi in Washington. Basic eye exams are performed onsite by a vision technician, and participants who need them, are given free prescription eye glasses and participate in a survey to compare their before and after quality of life scores. Participants with abnormal results are referred to an ophthalmologist at the Devers Eye Institute who conducts a full eye examination and determines the accuracy of the initial results (participants without transportation are taken to the eye clinic or visited at home by an eye doctor). Participants with diabetes receive an in-depth eye exam using a telemedicine technique of taking photographs of the eyes and using a computer to send digital images of the pictures to an ophthalmologist at another location. The ophthalmologist reviews the images, makes a diagnosis, and recommends treatment.

During the evaluation, researchers will find out if brief initial eye exams are accurate and improve the population’s accessibility to eye care. They will also determine whether telemedicine is an accurate and feasible method for detecting cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration. Participants will be asked for project recommendations and suggestions for expanding it to other native communities.

 

Back to Research Projects