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| Patient-doctor interactions | |
| Be more courteous, patient, and understanding | |
| Explain things clearly and in nondoctor terms | |
| Follow up with patients in between visits | |
| Always explain the problem, treatment plan, and options; patients want to feel a part of their care | |
| Cost/insurance | |
| Create more eye care clinics for low-income people | |
| Make eye examinations part of yearly physical for insurance purposes | |
| Offer in-house financing or payment plans | |
| Offer mail-in rebates after eye examinations | |
| Offer more treatment options/programs to assist with purchasing eye glasses | |
| Increase number of free vision screenings in underserved communities | |
| Accessibility | |
| Develop satellite clinics of larger hospitals in underserved communities | |
| Have doctors from larger hospitals practice in already established facilities in underserved communities once or twice a week | |
| Provide incentives for eye care providers to practice in underserved communities | |
| Have mobile units for eye care | |
| Notify local board of supervisors of need for more eye care providers in community | |
| Volunteer transportation in community | |
| Education/knowledge of eye care importance | |
| Monthly mailings on eye care education | |
| Create eye disease prevention week with daily postal mailings (modeled after fire prevention week) | |
| Use department of social services and churches as focal points for educational interventions | |
| More educational seminars in the community led by providers or students | |
| Create community eye care awareness groups run by members of the community | |
| Use various forms of media (newspaper, radio, or television) to increase eye care awareness | |
| Use marquees on local businesses to increase awareness | |
| Community/social support | |
| Implement eye care “buddy system” | |
| Get family members to encourage each other about importance of eye care | |
| Set up community committees/organizations for eye care issues | |
| Service at clinic | |
| Find better way to schedule patients to decrease waiting time | |
| Train all personnel to treat patients courteously | |
| Government | |
| Make lawmakers and political candidates more aware of the problems with receiving eye care | |
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