A Pilot Project to Assess the Impact of Diabetes Education During Ophthalmology Visits

Providing Diabetes Services in the Lions Eye Clinic: a Pilot Project to Assess the Impact of Diabetes Education During Ophthalmology Visits

The overarching purpose of this project is to provide diabetes education to the diverse patient population at the Lions Eye Clinic, a resident-run ophthalmology practice at California Pacific Medical Center. Because of high clinic volume in a teaching environment, our patients often experience long wait times. The goal of this program is to utilize this wait time for diabetes education, a much-needed corollary to the eye care that patients receive at our clinic.

This pilot project will investigate the impact of a program like this in our patient population. Specifically, the investigators are investigating whether diabetes education delivered in an ophthalmology setting enhances patient understanding of diabetes (via knowledge surveys) and/or leads to improved blood glucose control (via hemoglobin A1c). This is a 6-month study that runs through April 2015, and looks at the impact of an interactive diabetes education iPad app +/- in-person sessions with a diabetes educator. A subset of patients who meet with a diabetes educator will also be shown their own retinal images (compared to a normal retina).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes (as defined by evident systemic findings OR recent hemoglobin A1c OR patient report, as specific blood sugar data and knowledge of particular medications are often limited in this population)
• Age 18-75
• Able and willing to provide informed consent
• Speak English, Spanish, or any other language for which a translator is present

Exclusion Criteria:

• Advanced visual acuity loss in both eyes which prevents adequate use of educational tools
• Pregnant women, elderly patients (>75 years old), children and adolescents (17 or younger)
• Non-English/Spanish speakers for whom a translator is not present