Journal article
Lessons learned from a subsidised spectacles scheme aiming to improve eye health in Aboriginal people in Victoria, Australia
TR Fricke, C Brand, L Lovett, NW Turner, MD Anjou, SA Bentley
Australian Health Review | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2021
DOI: 10.1071/AH20023
Abstract
The Victorian Aboriginal Spectacles Subsidy Scheme (VASSS) aimed to improve access to visual aids and eye care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians. The VASSS started in July 2010 and has operated continually since. In 2016, we explored the collaborations, planning, adaptations and performance of the VASSS over the first 6 years by reviewing and analysing service data, as well as data from semistructured interviews, focus groups and surveys. An estimated 10 853 VASSS cofunded visual aids were delivered over 6 years, and the mean annual number of comprehensive eye examinations provided within services using VASSS grew 4.6-fold faster compared with the 4 years preceding the VAS..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The evaluation of the Victorian Aboriginal Spectacles Subsidy Scheme was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Victorian Government. The authors acknowledge Genevieve Napper (Australian College of Optometry) for her dedication to this program specifically and accessible public eye care in general, Catherine Thompson (Department of Health and Human Services, VictorianGovernment) for her decades of contribution to the Victorian Eyecare Service, Maureen O'Keefe (Australian College of Optometry) for her support of the program, all agencies and practitioners who have contributed to the programand the communitymemberswho participated in the evaluation.