Two McGill ophthalmologists in Nunavik have developed an eye exam using Canadian Indigenous syllabic letters to improve the quality of care provided in northern Quebec.
While working in the village of Puvirnituq in Nunavik, McGill’s two ophthalmologists, Christian El-Hadad and Nishaant Bhambra, found that visual acuity charts for assessing eyesight, with progressively smaller letters, existed only in the Latin alphabet, according to The Globe and Post on Sunday.
Apart from the fact that for many monolingual patients who do not speak either English or French, the use of this charter can be perceived as derogatory as it gives the impression that they are illiterate.
“Which simply isn’t the case,” said Dr. El-Hadad, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at McGill University. The idea is that they feel more comfortable in their own culture, especially when we visit them at home.”
With the help of dr. Bhambra, a recent graduate of McGill’s medical school, the two researchers developed the first known test in Canadian Native Syllabic (CAS), a writing system used for several native languages, including Inuktitut, Cree and Ojibway.
This charter aims to make patients more comfortable seeking care by aligning with a more patient-centric culture.