ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM Aravind Eye Hospital & Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM Aravind Eye Hospital & Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELLING Effectiveness of counselling in eye care sevice

  The effect of patient counselling on the society is enormous. It benefits the eye care service provider, the patients and the community at large   Counselling plays a catalystic role of influencing the people to undergo surgical or medical treatment for their blinding eye problems, thus helping to reduce and ultimately eliminate needless blindness among human beings The Consequence

 Before patient counselling system was introduced in Aravind Eye Hospital, many of the patients who came with eye diseases returned home immediately after they were examined by Ophthalmologists  They did not accept the advise of the doctor to undergo surgical treatment for fear of operation Purpose of starting counselling department in eye care service

 These patients who were mostly not well educated preferred medicines like eye drops to surgery for curing the ailment  Even the patient’s who had no fear for operation had a wrong notion that the out come of surgery may not be good  They thought that the cost of operation will be unbearable for them and so on

Outcome after the counselling department started There was a significant change in the situation:   Patients’ who have no belief in surgery who are afraid of surgical procedures, counsellor explained about the operation and its importance so patients to accept surgical treatment Cont…

  People who are hesitant about wearing spectacles for refractive error corrections are counselled to use spectacles  Parents who have a wrong belief that squint in sign of fortune are counselled to get their child immediately treated in the peadiatric ophthalmology clinic to save the child from vision loss

Beneficial effects of counselling on the society  Firstly, the patient counselling system has improved awareness of common eye diseases  Quality of service in hospital has improved as a result of counselling. By guiding and helping the patients from the time a patient enters the hospital till he/she leaves it, the counsellors have improved the quality of service Cont…

 As a result of counselling, the number of patients accepting surgical or medical treatment has increased, resulting in the increase of total patient volume of outpatients and inpatients  Another effect of counselling is the increase of patients follow-up visits to the hospital  Compliance to treatment procedures has also improved as a result of the counsellors clearly explaining the method of applying eye drops and cleaning the operated eye

 This has considerably reduced post operative complications and infections  The counselling staff’s services and guidance greatly impress the patients who ultimately become satisfied customers of the hospital. This results in the increase of patient satisfaction rate  Availing of eye care services by the community has also increased  A good counselling in proper time helps to prevent needless blindness caused by cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy etc