Virtual Booth

Cataract remains the leading cause of reversible blindness worldwide and a major public health challenge, particularly in ageing populations. Beyond visual impairment, cataract affects quality of life, functional independence, and socioeconomic productivity while increasing the burden on caregivers and healthcare services. Although cataract surgery is the definitive treatment, effective preoperative education is essential to improve patient understanding, preparedness, and informed participation throughout the surgical journey. However, conventional preoperative counselling relies predominantly on verbal explanations, resulting in inconsistent information delivery, limited consultation time, and variable patient comprehension and retention. To address these challenges, CATALyst (Cataract Teaching and Learning System) was developed as a standardised digital teaching aid to support learning among patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers involved in preoperative cataract counselling. The current innovation represents the first component of the CATALyst Educational Series in the form of a concise 5-minute educational video in Bahasa Melayu, delivering structured information on cataract, cataract surgery, its benefits and potential complications, preoperative preparation, and the journey on the day of surgery. By transforming conventional verbal counselling into a standardised audiovisual learning resource, CATALyst promotes consistent information delivery, complements routine face-to-face counselling, and enables repeated learning beyond the clinic. CATALyst is envisioned as a comprehensive digital teaching and learning ecosystem, with future expansion to multilingual resources (Mandarin and Tamil), electronic booklets, a dedicated web-based platform, intraocular lens (IOL) counselling, and postoperative care education. This scalable framework offers commercialisation potential through institutional licensing and customisation for hospitals, eye clinics, ambulatory surgical centres, and other eye care providers.