Community-based retinal screening with multilingual software support to overcome language barriers of minority communities

Abstract

Diabetic eye diseases, especially Diabetic Retinopathy, are the leading cause of vision loss worldwide and can be prevented by early diagnosis through annual retinal screening. Various socio-cultural factors, such as cost, healthcare disparities, cultural limitations, etc. are the foremost barriers against regular screening in minority communities. Retinal-screenings arranged in community settings with native-speaking staffs can facilitate regular check-ups and overcome language barriers of underprivileged communities compared to conventional clinical settings. As part of our study, we surveyed 400 participants to assess the acceptance of community-based screening methods among community participants. In addition to very positive responses about this screening approach's diverse perspectives, we found that having native-speaking staff at screening events can help overcome language barriers. Moreover, integrating multilingual support in the electronic health record software to assist the native-speaking staff is a significant factor in designing such systems.