Effectiveness of Counselling in Eye Care Services

Effectiveness of Counselling

The effect of patient counselling on the society is enormous. It benefits the eye care service provider, the patients and the community at large. Counselling plays a catalystic role of influencing the people to undergo surgical or medical treatment for their blinding eye problems, thus helping to reduce and ultimately eliminate needless blindness among human beings.

Before patient-counselling system was introduced in Aravind Eye Hospital, many of the patients who came with eye diseases returned home immediately after they were examined by opthalmologists. They did not accept the advice of the doctor to undergo surgical treatment for fear of operation.

These patients who were mostly not well educated preferred medicines like eye drops to surgery for curing their ailment. Even the patients who had no fear for operation had a wrong notion that the outcome of surgery may not be good. They thought that the cost of operation will be unbearable for them, and so on.

Such psychological barriers turned away many patients from eye hospital. After the counselling department was started, there was a significant change in the situation. Patients who have no belief in surgery, who are afraid of surgical procedures, who are hesitant to undergo surgery and who have misconceptions about operations are now counselled and influenced to accept surgical treatment.

People who are hesitant about wearing spectacles for refractive error corrections are counselled to use spectacles. Parents who have a wrong belief that squint (Strabismus) is a sign of fortune are counselled to get their child immediately treated in the paediatric ophthalmology clinic to save the child from vision loss.

These counselling activities have produced and continue to produce multifarious beneficial effects on the society, namely:

1. Firstly, the patient counselling system has improved awareness of common eye diseases. By giving information on the causes, effects and nature of eye diseases to the patients who will in turn pass on the information to their relatives and neighbours, the counsellors are escalating awareness in the community.
2. Quality of service in hospital has improved as a result of counselling. By guiding and helping the patients from the time a patient enters the hospital till he/she leaves it, the counsellors have improved the quality of service.
3. As a result of counselling, the number of patients accepting surgical or medical treatment has increased, resulting in the increase of total patient volume of outpatients and inpatients.
4. Another effect of counselling is the increase of patients’ follow-up visits to the hospital. Counsellor’s advice to the patients to come without fail for follow-up examinations and their emphasis on the importance of follow-up examinations and sending of reminders have a good impact.
5. Compliance to treatment procedures has also improved as a result of the counsellors clearly explaining the method of applying eye drops and cleaning the operated eye. This has considerably reduced post-operative complications and infections.
6. The counselling staff’s services and guidance greatly impress the patients who ultimately become satisfied customers of the hospital. This results in the increase of patient satisfaction rate.
7. Availing of eye care services by the community has also increased. This is the effect of the counsellor’s request to the patients to tell their friends and others about their recovery from eye problem. A satisfied customer is equivalent to many new customers, as the customer induces many of his fellowmen to get treated in the hospital.
8. A good counselling in proper time helps to prevent needless blindness caused by cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy etc. In short, patient counselling department is an important part of any health care hospital and in the case of an eye hospital it is an indispensable component. It serves both the hospital and the patients. It keeps in mind the interests of both the seller and buyer of health or eye care services.
   • The counsellors take the role of marketing executives when they emphasise to the patients the need for undergoing medical or surgical treatment immediately. Their services have a direct impact on the quality of the “product”, namely medical service. Like a responsible marketing executive who never exaggerates the performance of his company’s product, the patient counsellors also do not boast of their medical services but moderate the expectations of the patients about the outcome of treatment.
   • They take the role of social service workers when they educate the patients and their relatives on the proper method of applying medicines in prescribed dosages at the fixed times. This ensures patient compliance which is very important for a successful treatment outcome.
   • They function as community health volunteers when they create among patients awareness on eye diseases and the need for getting treatment without delay.
   • The counsellors act as Public Relations Officers of a business organisation when they inform the patients about the services and facilities available in the hospital and also helping them to avail of these facilities.

The candidates undergoing training in counselling should bear all these points in mind and do their best to become a good patient - counsellor. A good patient - counsellor is not only an asset of a health care system but also an important tool in preventing and eradicating needless blindness in the society.