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The article presents the discussion on impact of structural racism and historic redlining on health outcomes for diabetes. Topics include modern-day health inequities in major urban areas including asthma, certain types of cancer, preterm birth, mental health, and other chronic disease; and examining the national relationship between redlined neighborhoods and cardiovascular diseases.

In the outbreak of Covid-19, healthcare systems needed to reinvent the provision of good care to outpatients. The doctor-patient's relationship, even if at a distance, has been established to be a strikingly important factor to both monitor patient's clinical conditions and to provide reassurance avoiding sense of abandonment. Digital innovation opened up to new solutions and possibilities that haven't being considered before, particularly in the heavily test-based-evaluation field of ophthalmology. In this scarcely explored field, the role and cooperation of patients became central and essential. Patients need to become active actors in the management of their own health, teaming up with clinicians throughout a process of empowerment. A digital teleophthalmology platform, TreC-Ophthalmology, has been designed and created by a multidisciplinary team including actors from the local Healthcare Trust, the Autonomous Province of Trento, the Bruno Kessler Foundation and the competence center on digital health (TrentinoSalute4.0). The digital system, which is prescribed and activated directly by the clinician, allows the direct involvement of patients, autonomously collecting and safely providing information to the clinician allowing a better remote evaluation of patient's sight. Several self-administer tests have been selected and loaded on the platform, tutorials have been created and training sessions have been performed. Throughout the platform, patients and clinicians have had the chance to communicate, either asynchronously and real-time, via an encrypted chat and a video-meeting channel. Feedback both from patients and clinicians were collected at the end of a testing phase showing an overall appreciation for the system and the remote interaction from both sides. Participants feedback allowed also to plan ameliorations and new development of the platform (e.g. telecooperation setting, devices integration, etc.), supporting new protocols and work organization. 92 patients have had the possibility to use this service so far. Particularly during the extraordinary containment measures imposed at a national level, TreC-Ophthalmology allowed the remote communication between patients and healthcare professionals in a proactive way while preventing the spread of the virus. This experience represents a successful attempt towards the innovation of the health care system, supported by digital solutions and the active involvement of its actors, such as patients and clinicians. Thanks to the novelty of the protocol and the characteristics of the platform, which is created by public stakeholders for the local public healthcare, other regional healthcare providers have decided to start using TreC-Ophthalmology platform, validating its efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sláintecare Integration Fund awarded funding to 122 Irish healthcare projects in 2019 with the aim of establishing the building blocks for a significant shift in the way in which health services are delivered in Ireland. As a result of a submission by the Clinical Programme for Ophthalmology and Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO7) funding was awarded to establish a community based adult ophthalmology service in Tallaght in South West Dublin. CHO7 has a population of more than 700,000 and provides healthcare in the community for south & south west Dublin, Kildare and west Wicklow. Prior to the development of this service adult eye care for this area was hospital based delivered in either the Royal Victoria Eye or Ear Hospital (RVEEH) or associated linked hospitals in South Dublin. The service was developed in response to increasing waiting lists for new and review patients with chronic eye disease in RVEEH and followed the recommendations of the Primary Care Eye Services Review Group1. The emphasis was on providing a service for cataract, glaucoma and medical retina. The community clinic is located in a primary care centre in Tallaght in South West Dublin and the service is delivered by the Primary Care Eye team comprising a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Optometrist, Ophthalmic nurses and an administration team. The community service is integrated with RVEEH with integration of IT systems including MediSIGHT (electronic patient record), Zeiss Forum (image platform), Docman (document management) and CAPAS (patient administration system) to allow patients and their information to move seamlessly between sites. There is an overarching joint governance group with senior management and clinical representation from CHO7 and RVEEH. Working groups with representation from both organisations have been established to develop administrative, IT and clinical pathways across the service. Initial service delivery was to address the new patient cataract waiting list with waiting times of 4-5 years for a routine appointment in RVEEH. Patients have a virtual consultation by telephone or video prior to the face to face appointment. For those listed for surgery a pre-assessment is conducted on the same day by the Ophthalmic Nurse and the Optometrists and the post-op care is delivered in the community clinic by the Optometrists under the supervision of the Consultant Medical Ophthalmologist following a period of training and a competency assessment. Service delivery commenced in May 2021 but was significantly impacted by a cyber-attack on the Irish health services until September 2021. To date 839 appointments have been offered in the cataract service with 232 listed for surgery. Glaucoma assessment clinics have commenced. These are delivered by the Optometrists with virtual review of clinical and imaging information by the Consultant Medical Ophthalmologist. This model was developed by the RVEEH glaucoma service and patients from the CHO7 catchment area can transfer to the community service creating extra capacity at RVEEH. This service is also being offered to stable glaucoma patients that are overdue for review as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participants: A.A.G. Sponselee (the Netherlands), C.A.M. Huisman (the Netherlands), T.M. Raymundo (Brazil), L.D. Bernardo (Brazil), M.A. van Tilborg (the Netherlands). ISSUE Worldwide around 55 million people live with dementia and this number will increase to 139 million people in 2050 (WHO, 2021). People with a disability or older age depend on support of an informal caregiver. Informal caregivers can experience a higher level of depression and stress and the risk of developing physical health problems are greater compared to non-caregivers. When caring for someone with dementia, the care can be even more demanding because of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Research shows that informal caregivers perceive their situation as permanent and they experience a sense of being tied-in, the feeling to be always alert, unappreciated, feeling trapped, pulled in all directions, and sometimes being in an unreal situation. The care burden may result in a decrease in quality of life of the informal caregiver. CONTENT Our symposium is designed to bring together speakers from the Netherlands and Brazil on the theme living with dementia at home. The speakers will highlight: 1) a project conducted in the Netherlands with method and results 2) visual functioning at home 3) living with dementia at home in Brazil. STRUCTURE Huisman will introduce the project 'a good night for a better day'. A project performed in the Netherlands, the central issue is how can technology support a better sleep for people with dementia and their informal caregiver living at home. In the project we assume existing technology and examine what is needed to match these technologies to the context. Sponselee will talk about the perspectives of different stakeholders in the Netherlands on challenges during the night for people with dementia and their informal caregivers living at home. Van Tilborg will talk about visual functioning of people with dementia in and around home, possible solutions will be discussed. Raymundo and Bernardo (duo presentation) will present the Brazilian scenario and the initiatives aimed at the prevention of dementia, especially those linked to the training of community health agents (which are part of the Brazilian Unified Health System) for the early recognition of signs and symptoms of illness, and those related to the support of family caregivers in the management of behavioral and psychological changes resulting from the disease. In a complementary way, the symposium will present actions aimed at the elderly with a focus on technologies that can be used for cognitive training and cognitive stimulation. CONCLUSION The use of the technology and home modifications can support people with dementia and their caregiver to live at home as long as possible. The implementation is a challenge. This symposium will inspire people to think how we can realize ageing in place with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Ophthalmic Conference organized by the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan that was held in Karachi, Pakistan from August 18-21, 2016. Topics discussed include the improvement of patient care, the emphasis on establishing equilibrium in social justice and eye care, and the need for the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy to prevent blindness.

A calendar of U.S. events related to visual health is presented. The Collaborative Assistive Technology Conference of the Rockies will be held in Denver, Colorado from June 21 to 23, 2007. The American Council of the Blind National Convention will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from June 30 to July 7, 2007. The National Federaltion of the Blind National Convention will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from July 1 to 8, 2007.

This article presents various abstracts of the 22nd Hospital Optometrists Annual Meeting held at the City University, London, Great Britain, on September 14, 1996 to September 15, 1996. One abstract deals with predicting successful outcomes in the low vision management of elderly people. Structured interviews were conducted with 195 visually impaired people, aged 65 or over. Another abstract deals with measuring the outcomes of ophthalmic healthcare and low vision rehabilitation. The measurement of health status and medical outcomes is becoming a major requirement for all providers of health care services.