{"id":15954,"date":"2020-09-08T17:59:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T17:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/ner\/?p=15954"},"modified":"2020-09-08T19:21:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T19:21:06","slug":"project-showcase-educating-healthcare-professionals-and-the-sighted-community-on-the-health-disparities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/2020\/09\/08\/project-showcase-educating-healthcare-professionals-and-the-sighted-community-on-the-health-disparities\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Showcase: Educating Healthcare Professionals and the Sighted Community on the Health Disparities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caregivers and researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UMass Memorial Health Care and the University of Massachusetts Medical School are dedicated to preserving and improving the vision of our community members. They\u2019ve had years of training, they\u2019re experts in their field, and they know a great deal about the structure and functions of the eyes. But what they may not understand first-hand, is what it’s like to be a visually impaired person in society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe care for visually impaired people in our clinics and work to develop treatments in our labs each and every day,\u201d said Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM, Chair of the department. \u201cBut most of us don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to walk in the shoes of a patient who is blind or has restricted sight. This event allowed us to do just that; and it was very eye opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Educating<\/p>\n

Partnering with VISIONS Consulting L3C, the eye team participated in a \u201cBlind Date\u201d . Each team member was partnered with a sighted guide, blindfolded and given a white cane. They then walked through a simulated trip to the UMass Memorial Eye Center, following every step of a visit from registering and signing paperwork, to undergoing an eye exam and surgical procedure, and finally taking a walk around the beautiful gardens, which they were taught to appreciate differently by accessing their other senses of touch, smell and hearing.<\/p>\n

Participants were observed during their visits and received feedback at the end of the simulation that detailed their behaviors: \u201cShe had difficulty signing her form.\u201d \u201cShe awkwardly found and sat in her chair.\u201d \u201cHe hesitated to walk through the doorway without his guide.\u201d Caregivers shared how difficult it can be to depend on someone else to guide them, and how disconnected some felt without the use of their eyes to inform them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think an experience like this makes us all more compassionate and better caregivers,\u201d noted Dr. Schaal. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to get caught up in our busy days and rush. But a simulation like this teaches us to slow down and consider how our patients are feeling and what hurdles they may be experiencing during a visit. Taking the time to be sure they\u2019re comfortable, that we\u2019re not moving along too quickly \u2013 these are important mental notes we have to make to ensure we\u2019re delivering the best possible care and a positive patient experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caregivers and researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UMass Memorial Health Care and the University of Massachusetts Medical School are dedicated to preserving and improving the vision of our community members. They\u2019ve had years of training, they\u2019re experts in their field, and they know a great deal about the structure and… Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2969,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funded-project"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2969"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15954"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15961,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15954\/revisions\/15961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}