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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wilmer Eye Clinic, Hopkins' CCP, Hispanic Apostolate Launch Pro Vision Project to Help Baltimore's Hispanics Manage Diabetes-related Eye DiseaseBALTIMORE — In an effort to address one of the many health risks associated with a high rate of diabetes among Baltimore's growing Hispanic community, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Catholic Charities' Hispanic Apostolate, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP) have joined forces to help Hispanics better understand how diabetes affects their eyes and can damage their vision if left untreated. The National Eye Institute awarded the three organizations — known collectively as the Pro Vision Project — $2.5 million over four years to tackle this problem affecting the largest growing minority group in the U.S, where the Latino population is expected to double by 2025. According to studies, one in five adult Latinos (age 40 and older) have diabetes and nearly half of those (47%) have diabetic retinopathy, a diabetic eye disease that can result in vision loss. Yet 15% of those with diabetes are unaware of their condition, and 9% of those have moderate to severe diabetic retinopathy as well. Timely and appropriate treatment can be effective in preventing loss of vision. “We recognize that there are many factors, including economic factors, that prevent Latinos from seeking treatment for their diabetes and associated eye problems,” said Dr. Sheila West, principal investigator for Pro Vision and professor at the Wilmer Eye Institute. “That's why we plan to work with the Latino community to learn how they receive health information and the factors that influence them in seeking eye care, and then design a health information program and supportive system to meet their needs.” The Hispanic Apostolate will facilitate the outreach to identify and educate diabetic people within the Latino community, while the Wilmer Eye Institute will use its world-renown eye health expertise along with CCP's behavior change communication strategies to develop and disseminate health education messages and materials on diabetes and diabetic retinopathy to Baltimore 's Latino community. Pro Vision will begin by conducting research to determine gaps in knowledge and perceived barriers to appropriate eye care for diabetic eye disease, and then use an interactive process with the community to design health education messages, materials, and dissemination systems. The project also plans to use community-based channels of communication to disseminate the health education messages that aim to increase knowledge, help remove barriers to access, and enhance health-seeking behaviors. Ultimately, Pro Vision will evaluate its efforts and develop a model for reaching Latino populations with health messages that can be packaged for replication in other areas with growing Latino populations. The Wilmer Eye Institute is known throughout the world, not only for research, but for management of exceptionally complex and serious eye cases. It provides compassionate and technically excellent care for patients with eye care needs at all levels. Wilmer was ranked the country's number-one eye department in the U.S. News & World Report physician survey last year and for 12 of the past 14 years in which the survey has been conducted. CCP is a pioneer in the field of strategic, evidence-based communication programs for behavior change and health promotion. Currently working in more than 30 countries, CCP has a strong record of working with local partner institutions to achieve measurable change in health outcomes. The Hispanic Apostolate is a program of Catholic Charities, the region's leading provider of human services. The 41-year old program welcomes and provides social services and legal support to Hispanic persons and other immigrants in the Baltimore area. The Apostolate's bilingual staff offers assistance with employment, English proficiency, immigration legal services, and access to health care." |
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