Grant: Project Grant

Since the 1960s, Grassy Narrows First Nation has been exposed to mercury from industrial pollution of their territorial waters, which contaminated the fish at the heart of their culture, tradition, livelihood and diet. Our ongoing community-university research partnership demonstrated that a large proportion of the community present a unique pattern of mercury-related visual deficits, which are atypical of most ocular diseases. Currently, no vision rehabilitation protocol exists for the specific visual deficits of those affected by long-term mercury exposure. With this project in partnership with Grassy Narrows First Nation, we propose to carry out functional vision assessments involving interviews and observations of 80 community members. The findings will serve to develop a patient-centered, community-oriented and screening tools focused on the needs of community members to improve their ability to perform everyday tasks. The project will provide recommendations for a culturally relevant vision rehabilitation service delivery model for the up-coming Grassy Narrows Mercury Care Home and Wellness Centre. To our knowledge, this is the first project to develop a vision rehabilitation program designed to serve the needs of an Indigenous population in Canada.