Identifying best‐practice features of diabetic retinopathy treatment models for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Objective: Indigenous Australians are nearly three times more likely to have diabetes than non‐Indigenous Australians. The prevalence of diabetes‐related vision impairment for Indigenous Australians is 5.5% compared to 1.5% for non‐Indigenous Australians, and treatment rates are lower for Indigenous Australians. Despite this situation, there is limited evidence on effective service delivery models for diabetic retinopathy care and treatment. This study seeks to identify best‐practice features of diabetic retinopathy care that could be used to inform current and future service delivery models for Indigenous Australians with diabetic retinopathy. Setting: All states, territories and geographic remoteness categories in Australia. Participants: Eight ophthalmologists engaged in providing eye healthcare to Indigenous Australians. Design: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted. The Framework Approach was used to conduct a thematic analysis of the interviews to facilitate identification of key themes and issues that emerged from these discussions. Results: Seven best‐practice features for service delivery of diabetic retinopathy treatment for Indigenous Australians were identified. These were: cultural safety, affordability and accessibility, partnerships with key stakeholders, timeliness, integration with primary care, clarity of guidelines, and clinician attitude and motivation. Conclusion: The findings from this study identified seven best‐practice features for diabetic retinopathy treatment. These have the potential to inform and influence how care is delivered to Indigenous Australians. Although further research is warranted to capture other service provider inputs and Indigenous end‐user perspectives, these features in the meantime can begin to inform the decisions of the Indigenous eyecare sector on policy reforms and best‐practice diabetic retinopathy treatment approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]