Celebrating Rural Health Month 2024

Eyecare Service at South West Aboriginal Medical Service

UDRH SW has been proud to partner with the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the South West Aboriginal Medical Service (SWAMS) to establish the new Eyecare Service at SWAMS in Bunbury.

The service has significantly improved access to culturally sensitive eye care for First Nations people in Western Australia’s South West region. This partnership has enhanced workforce training, including placement opportunities for 24 optometry students per annum, and provided high-demand optometry services, especially for diabetes-related eye conditions, without requiring GP referrals.

State-of-the-art equipment funded by the Fred Hollows Foundation allows early diagnosis and treatment of conditions like diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, improving patient outcomes and preventing irreversible vision loss. The integration of the service within SWAM’s broader medical practice has fostered a seamless referral system, while cultural training, provided to the UWA optometry students as part of the UDRH SW cultural orientation and training program, ensures responsiveness to community needs.

Looking forward, our shared commitment to ongoing optometry regional placements in the South West and UWA’s potential model expansion to other Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across WA highlights a sustainable approach to rural eye health, with SWAMS leading the way in community-centred, high quality care.

You can watch the report the Channel 7 has produced about the Eyecare Service at SWAMS: here.

Optometrist Norman using the Zeiss Video Slit Lamp Bio Microscope