ABSTRACT

Oulu University of Applied Sciences Master of Health Care, Clinical Optometry

Author: Mia Rosqvist Title of the thesis: Digital Care Pathway for Amblyopic Patients in Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District: a Development Project Content advisors: Dr. Robert Andersson and Tuomas Juustila Oulu University of Applied Sciences Project supervisors: Dr. Johanna Liinamaa and Optometrist Anna Autio Oulu University Hospital Term and year of thesis completion: Spring term 2023 Pages: 58

Introduction: Amblyopia is one of the leading causes of children’s visual impairment. When detected early, the negative impacts of amblyopia can be hindered but to succeed, it requires commitment from the patient and their guardians, regular care, controls, and resources. Monitoring children’s visual acuity is important as it is an indicator of the development of amblyopia. Finland has large healthcare districts, and patients may need to travel long distances to get the treatment and go to regular controls, which is not cost-effective. Currently, the health and social services reform sets a great opportunity to proceed with the mission how to find new possibilities for improving the care path for amblyopic patients. The Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District was in a need of a digital care pathway to complement traditional healthcare in treating and monitoring amblyopia.

Purpose: The purpose of this development project was to gather all the relevant information about amblyopia for the patient and their guardians in one place and to create an accessible contact channel for the patients. At the same time, efforts were made to find reliable methods for controlling visual acuity remotely.

Methods: This development project was research-based and was pursued with a descriptive literature review. Furthermore, the project was pursued through The Health Village model of development and included the design and script of the digital care pathway.

Results: As a result, a basis of the digital care pathway for amblyopia was made for The Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District using the platform of The Health Village to the point where the implementation phase can start. The digital care pathway includes five stages: 1) logging in, 2) information about amblyopia, 3) treatment plan, 4) contact channel, and 5) control measurements.

Conclusions: The Health Village offers a good portal for directing the patient to a reliable source of up-to-date information. Based on this development project, the remote visual acuity control of the amblyopic patients could be made by local optometrists in the private sector or public health nurses in child health clinics or centres performing the intermediate visual acuity control. In order to get a functional digital care pathway, the pathway should be tested with a control group of possible future users. Therefore, within the limits set by its resources, the Oulu University Hospital continues to reach the implementation phase of the digital care pathway.

Keywords: amblyopia, amblyopia control, digital health care services, digital care pathway