Background and Purpose: The most common surgery performed in pediatric ophthalmology practice is the correction of strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes that can occur at any age. Many pediatric ophthalmologists also specialize in adult strabismus surgery.  Adult strabismus is commonly the result of childhood-onset forms of strabismus that can reappear over time. When a patient is diagnosed with strabismus, information about the condition, including a discussion of surgical treatment, is provided. Educating adult patients, parents of young children and children about strabismus and outcomes of strabismus surgery, including possible risks and complications, falls within the role of the pediatric ophthalmologist.  Although these discussions are needed so patients can build knowledge and have sufficient information for informed decision-making, they include the use of complicated terminology and concepts and take place at the end of long visits. Patient education materials (PEMs) are written, auditory, visual or multimedia knowledge translation tools for the distribution of important clinical information. PEMs have been shown to facilitate informed consent, improve follow-up rates, increase patient understanding of diagnosis, and reduce pre-operative anxiety. Since patient understanding and retention of information affects their ability to manage a condition and affect their health outcomes, PEMs are an invaluable resource to any clinician. The purpose of this study is to co-create PEMs for strabismus surgery that addresses both patient and clinician needs. 

Methods: This study will utilize a mixed-methods approach for the co-creation of PEMs about strabismus surgery. The RE-AIM framework will be used to assess the implementation outcomes throughout these phases of the study. The first phase of this study will be PEM co-creation. In this phase, we will conduct virtual group meetings following a nominal group approach to identify PEM content, format, delivery preferences and barriers/solutions to delivery. The second phase of this study will be done in collaboration with Dalhousie’s MedIT to create a PEM based on patient feedback on content and formatting. The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s PEMAT tool will be applied to ensure that PEM is accessible to the widest range of patients. The third phase of this study will be clinic rollout, where the implementation of the PEM will be assessed using the APEASE framework. 

Results: This project is still in progress, with results yet to come. 

Conclusion: We predict that patients will want to receive information regarding strabismus surgery via visual or audiovisual PEMs.