Prakash Winston D, Morjaria Priya, McCormick Ian, Khanna Rohit C
Allen Foster Community Eye Health Research Centre, Gullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye care, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, United Kingdom.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Aug 28;4(8):e0002124. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002124. eCollection 2024.
Children with special education needs (SEN) are at high risk of developing vision problems. In India, there is no data available on the awareness level of eye health needs of children with SEN among special school managers (SSM) and on the barriers to providing eye care for these children in schools. This study aimed to identify the awareness level among SSM and the barriers to organizing School Eye Health (SEH) programmes in special schools, as reported by the eye health program organizers.
A mixed-method study was conducted between July and August 2020 among SSM and eye health programme organizers from a local eye care provider in Hyderabad, India. SSM participants completed an online questionnaire assessing their knowledge, attitude, and practice concerning the eye health needs of children with SEN. Quantitative responses were described with summary statistics. Qualitative interviews with eye health programme organizers were conducted via telephone, and transcripts were thematically analysed. Results: In total, 13/67 (19.4%) invited SSM participated and 2/4 invited eye health programme organizers (50%) were interviewed. Among the SSM participants, 92.3% were aware of vision impaired (VI) children in their schools. Awareness of potential causes of VI ranged from 53.9%-92.3%, common eye conditions ranged from 7.7%-69.2%, and difficulties experienced by children with SEN in classroom activities ranged from 46.2%-76.9%. Only 30.8% of the special schools organized SEH programmes at least once a year. Eye health programme organizers reported barriers, such as a lack of interest from SSM, unavailability of qualified screening staff, and a lack of provision for spectacles and low-vision devices.
This study identified varied levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of SSM related to the eye health needs of children with SEN. Key barriers to conducting SEH programmes included a lack of demand, inadequate human resource availability, and limited access to government-funded resources. As the study was negatively impacted by the Covid pandemic, further research with wider representation is needed to plan comprehensive eye health programmes for children with SEN.
有特殊教育需求（SEN）的儿童患视力问题的风险很高。在印度，没有关于特殊学校管理人员（SSM）对有特殊教育需求儿童的眼部健康需求的认知水平以及在学校为这些儿童提供眼部护理的障碍的数据。本研究旨在确定特殊学校管理人员的认知水平以及眼健康项目组织者报告的在特殊学校组织学校眼健康（SEH）项目的障碍。
2020年7月至8月间，在印度海得拉巴的特殊学校管理人员和当地一家眼保健机构的眼健康项目组织者之间开展了一项混合方法研究。特殊学校管理人员参与者完成了一份在线问卷，评估他们对有特殊教育需求儿童的眼部健康需求的知识、态度和实践。定量回答用汇总统计数据进行描述。通过电话对眼健康项目组织者进行定性访谈，并对访谈记录进行主题分析。结果：总共13/67（19.4%）受邀的特殊学校管理人员参与了研究，2/4受邀的眼健康项目组织者（50%）接受了访谈。在特殊学校管理人员参与者中，92.3%知道他们学校有视力受损（VI）儿童。对视力受损潜在原因的知晓率在53.9%-92.3%之间，常见眼部疾病的知晓率在7.7%-69.2%之间，有特殊教育需求儿童在课堂活动中遇到的困难的知晓率在46.2%-76.9%之间。只有30.8%的特殊学校每年至少组织一次学校眼健康项目。眼健康项目组织者报告了一些障碍，如特殊学校管理人员缺乏兴趣、缺乏合格的筛查人员以及缺乏眼镜和低视力设备。
本研究确定了特殊学校管理人员在有特殊教育需求儿童的眼部健康需求方面的知识、态度和实践水平各不相同。开展学校眼健康项目的主要障碍包括需求不足、人力资源供应不足以及获得政府资助资源的机会有限。由于该研究受到新冠疫情的负面影响，需要进行更具广泛代表性的进一步研究，以规划针对有特殊教育需求儿童的全面眼健康项目。
