GLOBAL HEALTH AGING

Open Your Eyes is a recently produced documentary on the impact of cataract surgery in Nepal. The film shows the transformation of health-related quality of life for older adults with access to medical care. In the film, Manisara and Durga make the long journey to get cataract surgery. Both husband and wife are blind and depend on family members for their most basic needs. Despite being blind, Manisara and Durga help care for their grandchildren and have an important place in the family. Their journey to the city is filled with nervous trepidation, but after the surgery, both are able to see their grandchildren and contribute to valuable work that benefits the entire family and community.

Open Your Eyes highlights the successful use of foreign funds to combat treatable diseases. The funding helps develop sustainable infrastructure and pays for many public health interventions such as cataract surgeries. In a previous article titled Hoping to Health, Global Health Aging reviewed the impact of NGO’s working on health including the effect of global health volunteering. Such efforts look very different in the Lions Club of Nepal – a club established by the service membership organization Lions Clubs International – where medical volunteers are Nepali citizens.

Overall, some questions were not addressed in the documentary. It was unclear if there was adequate follow-up care to prevent infection. And while Manisari and Duraga had no complications, both would have been virtually unreachable if they needed medical attention after they returned home. Cataract surgeries have a positive health impact due to their low complication rate and high degree of efficacy. It is not clear, however, that this model would translate for more risky procedures. In the end, Open Your Eyes does not discuss the challenges of bringing medical care to rural areas. Instead, it makes a compelling case for older adults as valued members of society who deserve quality care. Check out the trailer!

Grace Mandel is a project manager for the Baltimore Fall Reduction Initiative Engaging Neighborhoods and Data (B’FRIEND) at the Baltimore City Department of Health.