Education is the main reason why Canadian minorities face barriers in obtaining the best in eye health, says a panel of the country’s top industry professionals. Asians, African Canadians and First Nationa appear to suffer most from these barriers.

In an aim to address Canada’s diversity, and the unique eye health issues that come hand-in-hand with such diversity, Transitions Optical hosted a panel this spring made up of respected eye industry professionals in order to offer strategies for overcoming specific challenges and delivering culturally appropriate vision care.

Each minority group within Canada has unique issues that create potential barriers to providing eye care, the roundtable pointed out.

Among Asian Canadians, the report says, a low awareness of the need for regular vision care and proper eyewear and even lower awareness of overall health issues and steps to care for overall health are a problem.

The African Canadian population has less familiarity with the Canadian healthcare system, higher rates of unemployment and lower salaries, which are all major obstacles. For First Nations populations, geographic isolation, high rates of substance abuse and frequent distrust of non-Aboriginal authorities are roadblocks.

In summary, the most important finding the panel concluded on was to increase the amount of public and professional education. It was also recommended that the optical industry should take an active role in supporting eyecare professionals in their efforts to provide more culturally appropriate vision care by playing a larger role in providing cultural competency education and resources to opticianry and optometry schools, increasing the number of minority eyecare professionals in the workforce and providing better consumer education.

The panel was made up of six professionals from Ontario and one optometrist from the Northwest Territories: Vi Tu Banh, O.D., of Uxbridge, Ont., Michael Kaplan, O.D., of (Toronto, Ont., Upen Kawale, O.D., of Toronto, Ont., Trevor Ludski, B.A. and M.Ed. of Markham, Ont., optician Richard Winn of Yellowknife, NT and optician Wael Yassein of Oshawa, Ont.

As a result of the panel discussion, a consensus paper called "Fostering Healthy Sight in Canada: Focus on Culturally Diverse Groups" has been created to provide details on eye health and communication needs of the largest demographic groups in Canada and strategies for helping eyecare professionals provide culturally appropriate vision care.