Development of a Nigeria-Adapted Low Vision Rehabilitation Curriculum for Allied Eye Health Professionals

The absence of a validated, Nigeria-adapted low vision rehabilitation curriculum for allied eye health professionals perpetuates the near-total absence of functional low vision services in the country and leaves millions of partially sighted Nigerians without essential rehabilitative support. This study develops, pilots, and validates a Nigeria-adapted low vision rehabilitation curriculum for optometrists and ophthalmic nurses. A five-phase educational research design will be adopted. Phase one conducts a national training needs assessment of 200 optometrists and ophthalmic nurses across all six geopolitical zones. Phase two engages an expert curriculum development panel including low vision therapists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, disability rights advocates, and patient representatives to develop the curriculum using the Kern model of curriculum development. Phase three pilots the curriculum in a six-week intensive training programme with 30 participants from five geopolitical zones. Phase four evaluates training outcomes including pre- and post-training knowledge, clinical skills assessment using standardised objective clinical examination (OSCE), and patient-level low vision assessment quality. Phase five conducts a Delphi consensus process to validate and finalise the curriculum for national adoption. Existing low vision curricula adopted in Nigerian training institutions are adapted from UK or South African contexts and fail to incorporate Nigeria-specific epidemiology, locally available assistive devices, and the socio-cultural dimensions of visual disability. This study generates an original, validated educational product with immediate implementation value. Recommendations will address accreditation pathways through the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria and integration into postgraduate ophthalmology nursing training. Keywords: low vision rehabilitation, curriculum development, allied health professionals, Nigeria, educational research