Our second webinar took place on 29th March and was a great success with just under 200 people tuning in to watch it live.
The topic was centred around caring for your eyes with diabetes with speaker Dr Louise’ O Toole. Dr O’Toole is a Consultant Medical Ophthalmologist currently practising in the Mater Private Network Dublin, Bon Secours Dublin and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin. She has managed the retinal care of diabetic patients from the three Dublin Maternity Hospitals for over a decade.
During this webinar, Dr O’Toole gave a general overview of the importance of looking after your eyes with diabetes. She also covered how to access plus the benefits of attending the Retinascreen programme. There were many slides with photographs showing retinal images, how these were read and where damage was noted but more importantly how stages of retinopathy could be treated. The session highlighted the overall success of the Diabetic Retinascreen programme which has been running in Ireland since 2013.
There were a huge number of questions posted and we did our best to work through the majority of questions both during the live Q&A or by responding to individuals directly over the platform during the session.
Post-webinar feedback received showed that those who engaged all now have a better understanding of how to care for their eyes and all those that responded advised they were more likely to attend their Retinascreen appointment after the session.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with many respondents commenting on Dr O’ Toole’s ability to simplify the information yet provide a detailed understanding of the Retina screen programme.
Some feedback comments are listed below:
“I find it interesting to know what the damage to the eye can be, it’s a real incentive to take care of your eyes! It’s also helpful to know what the references mean with a real-world example of what that looks like.’
‘More knowledge now on what the actual side effects of these conditions are and how poor control impacts that. Greater understanding of the screening program and how this program will help prevent issues with my eyes.’
‘The slides were very informative, and Dr O’Toole explained everything in a very clear and simple way.’
‘Slides very helpful. Showed exactly the different parts of the back of the eye and the various conditions. A lot of information given as I knew next to nothing about the eye.’
‘I feel more informed now about diabetic retinopathy, and although my last retina scan showed early I’m not as terrified as I was as it was very well explained by Dr. O’Toole.’
‘Clarified exactly what is being looked at in the screening and what they will do.’
‘I gained a greater understanding of the disease and the different pathologies. Also, the available treatments.’
‘Presentation was extremely detailed, and presenter was excellent.’
‘Webinar was excellent and very informative. I attend screening but Dr Louise explained things in so much more detail. Sometimes in screening, they refer to medical terms and easier to understand these after the webinar.’