Health Services & Policy Research | Department of Ophthalmology | School of Medicine

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A Novel Model of Care for Vision Rehabilitation—Dr Mark Bona

Approximately 1% of the Canadian population suffers from low vision defined as visual impairment not improved with surgery, medicine, or spectacles. Low vision negatively impacts an individual's overall health, wellness, education, and economics participation. Vision rehabilitation (VR) can mitigate these challenges by optimizing the individual's function, however, the health care system is not properly integrated to provide this effective service. Elements of vision rehabilitation are currently being provided by a variety of practitioned who have no way to coordinate their care. Therefore patients face lengthy wait times and receive disparate services depending on their location resulting in fractured care that is often incomplete, inadequate, or duplicated. Access to care is further limited by poor awareness of these services. Taken together, this fractures system leaves patient confused, frustrated, and creates needless economic burder. We have established the South-Eastern Ontario Vision Rehabilitation Service and are measuring its impact on improved access to VR and measuring the improvement on quality of life for patients with low vision in the SELHIN.