Our Approach

Our Approach

Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Model

Our model takes an inclusive, integrated approach to eye health care.

PLANNING

Choosing a location and the partner hospital

  • We select a location with a high prevalence of blindness
  • We choose locations with lower socio-economic status compared to the national average
  • We find a local hospital with a compatible vision, mission and value

Assessment and action planning with the partner hospitals

  • We conduct a quality audit using predefined standards
  • We develop an action plan with the local partner to bridge the identified gaps
  • We focus on delivery of quality eye care services to all, regardless of their ability to pay

Defining the project area

  • We collaborate with the local partner hospital
  • We determine service provision areas based on density of population, the access to health services, the availability of transportation, etc.
  • We aim to reach 100,000 to 500,000 people per project

IMPLEMENTATION

Establishing vision centres

  • Vision centres are established in strategic locations within the project area
  • Vision centres bring primary eye care services closer to communities. Services include comprehensive eye examinations, dispensing glasses and referrals, if needed
  • Vision centres act as a link between communities and hospitals

Recruiting community health workers (CHWs)

  • We recruit CHWs from centrally located villages within the project catchment areas
  • We target our recruitment strategies towards women
  • Target communities recognize CHWs as part of their community, which results in high acceptance and trust

Training community health workers (CHWs)

  • CHWs undergo a rigorous training program based on a curriculum developed by Operation Eyesight
  • CHWs are trained to identify eye conditions, conduct surveys, and deliver health education activities
  • As part of their training, CHWs attend both lectures and hands-on training session

Conducting door-to-door surveys

  • CHWs conduct door-to-door surveys, covering the entire population of the project area
  • They conduct visual acuity tests and screen all community members for eye conditions
  • They assess the health status of each member of the community, including pregnant women, post-natal mothers and children below five years

Organizing screening camps

  • CHWs organize screening camps in centrally located villages. At these outreach camps, staff from our partner hospitals re-examine those who were identified with eye conditions during the door-to-door survey
  • Those who are diagnosed with minor conditions are treated in the camps, and people with more serious eye conditions are referred for further care
  • Screening camps are also conducted in schools within the project areas

Ensuring continuity of care

  • CHWs ensure that referred patients visit hospitals for further diagnosis and treatment, including surgery if required
  • They counsel the patients and their families so that nobody is left behind including women and girls
  • They ensure proper post-surgery/treatment follow-up with the patients as per the medical advice given

Organizing health education activities and empowering communities

  • CHWs develop action plans based on the door-to-door survey findings
  • Conduct health education sessions on relevant topics such as eye health, nutrition, personal hygiene, etc.
  • CHWs coordinate with other primary health care providers and ensure pre- and post-natal care and immunization of children below five years

MAINTENANCE

Monitoring and evaluation

  • The project teams continuously monitor progress based on the monitoring and evaluation framework established for each project
  • Project evaluations are conducted by external expert agencies and lessons learned are incorporated into new project

Declaring villages avoidable blindness-free

  • CHWs conduct complete door-to-door surveys again towards the end of project duration to ensure that there are no backlog cases
  • Project team ensures through relevant studies that the target communities have taken ownership of their eye health
  • Villages/communities where all the treatable cases have been treated successfully and there is no more risk of anyone losing sight needlessly are declared as avoidable blindness-free in public functions

Ensuring sustainability

  • We ensure sustainability of our project results by involving local stakeholders from the beginning of the project
  • Our vision centres are designed to become self-sustainable so that they can continue to deliver quality eye care services beyond the project duration