July 2009

Tests on eyes and ears

The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital has partnered with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) to provide eye and ear health checks for Aboriginal children.

VACCA approached the hospital to provide health professionals to visit their playgroups across Melbourne to conduct the screenings.

Cindy-Lee Harper from VACCA said Aboriginal families are sometimes reluctant to attend mainstream services.

‘With the hospital bringing their services to the playgroups, the children’s health can be checked in an environment where they feel comfortable.’

A team including audiologists and orthoptists will visit four different playgroups to do tests on their eyes and ears.

So far, the hospital has screened about 25 children at two sites and a number of eye and ear conditions have been detected.

Community Development Officer at the Eye and Ear Kellie Michel said those children would now be referred to their general practitioner or to the hospital if the condition was serious.

‘Along the way, we also work with the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service to ensure the kids receive culturally-appropriate care.’

Head of the Orthoptic Department at the Eye and Ear Associate Professor Zoran Georgievski said as the eye developed, changes in a child’s vision would occur.

‘Children and their parents are often unaware of a defect in their vision so routine examinations are important at an early age.’

Audiologist Brooke Paisley said ear conditions in children were quite common but, with the right treatment, could usually be easily fixed.

‘A child is never too young for a hearing test—there are hearing tests suitable for a child of any age or stage so if you are concerned, take your child to a health care professional straight away,’ he said.