The Kimberley and Pilbara are two of the most remote regions in the world. As a result, it can be difficult for families who live in the region to access quality health care for their children.
In addition, the Commissioner for Children and Young People has identified the proportion of children receiving the School Entry Assessment (SEA) in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions as an area of concern. SEA is usually performed in Pre-Primary and again in Year Three and aims to identify children who have vision issues and other developmental concerns in order to facilitate early intervention.
The dedicated staff at Lions Outback Vision know that without this intervention, the opportunity to identify and treat conditions early is lost, leaving some children to live a life with permanent vision issues, as well as affecting their educational outcomes and future job prospects.
“With the support of Channel 7 Telethon Trust, State and Federal Governments, we hope to introduce a range of initiatives that will allow earlier identification and treatment of paediatric vision problems in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions,” said Associate Professor Angus Turner, McCusker Director of Lions Outback Vision.
Specialised paediatric equipment
Pictured above left: Pinhole occluders are used to test visual acuity
Right: Child-size chin and forehead rests help to steady a child’s head during an eye examination
The Lions Outback Vision Kimberley Eye Hub, based in Broome, is well resourced with equipment suitable for adults. However much of this equipment is unsuitable for examining babies and children, who are smaller and require age and culturally appropriate materials to effectively complete an examination.
Funding has allowed the team to purchase a range of items specifically designed for children including:
- Bright reading charts with animals instead of numbers
- Child size pinhole/occluder glasses
- Chairs that are smaller and higher
- Slit lamps and other ophthalmic equipment with child-size chin and forehead rests.
With this specialised equipment the Hub team are scheduling dedicated paediatric ophthalmology clinics, and in 2023 will have the paediatric specialist expertise of Dr Yachana Shah in residence.
Supporting the School Entry Assessment program
Mother and son at an eye examination in Lombadina
There are more than 50 schools across the Kimberley and Pilbara, and many are located in remote, hard to reach places. With local child health nurses few and far between, those that are on the ground in the North West are simply unable to reach every single community, meaning many children are missing out on vital health screenings.
Associate Professor Turner said the Hub team is working with local health authorities to identify gaps in SEA, and has started vision screenings in communities including Bidyadanga, One Arm Point and Lombadina.
“As with most programs outside of the metropolitan area, it is costly and time consuming to travel between remote communities. Each visit requires hours of car and plane travel. We aim to lift current SEA rates to levels seen in the rest of regional Western Australia,” he said.
Reducing the incidence of diabetes-related vision loss in Indigenous youth
“The eyesight of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is very strong when they are young, but subject to deterioration as a result of limited or poor access to services and other health related factors.” Wendy Murray, Reconciliation Action Plan Coordinator, Lions Eye Institute.
Indigenous Australians in remote communities face significant challenges when it comes to their health. The age of onset of conditions such as diabetes is significantly younger in Indigenous people compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Alarmingly, the incidence of diabetes is also increasing in Indigenous youth.
Lions Outback Vision has run a screening program since 2010 with the aim to identify vision threatening diabetic eye disease. The gap in screening is detecting young people with diabetic eye disease that has or will progress to blinding complications.
“We plan to tackle this issue with diabetic retinopathy screening and a healthy eating program aimed at high school students in the Kimberley. By talking to kids about healthy eating to prevent diabetes, we believe we can significantly impact the rate of diabetic eye disease, and vision loss, later in life,” said Associate Professor Turner.
Indigenous Australians – eye health by numbers
