Your patient receives a diagnosis of diabetic eye disease. They leave your offices. They go home.
And they open their computer…
For many Australians, this is where the next stage of the patient journey begins.
Search query data provides us with a unique window into the patient’s journey. Unlike surveys or focus groups, it captures people’s immediate, uncensored thoughts at the moment they’re searching for answers. It reveals not just what people want to know about diabetic eye disease, but what they’re worried about, hoping for and trying to understand after they’ve left your consulting room.
SeeWay, an Australian organisation that provides free services for people navigating life with some vision loss, has undertaken research of Australian search data that reveals around 28,000 searches relating to diabetic eye diseases each month.1 Many are exactly what we might expect: “How does diabetes affect the eyes?”, “diabetic retinopathy treatment”, “diabetic retinopathy symptoms”, “diabetic retinopathy causes”, and “eye tests for diabetic retinopathy”.2 And if they are using AI answer engines, their questions are longer, and more specific: “Which companies offer affordable diabetic retinopathy treatment services?”
Then there’s another question: “Can diabetic retinopathy be reversed?”
On the surface, it’s a question about treatment. But it also reflects something much more human, along with the questions that are likely to follow: “Will I still be able to work?”, “Will I keep my driver’s licence?”, “How can I continue to read?”, “Will I be able to recognise faces?”, “How long can I continue living independently?”, “ What happens next?”
Understanding Perspectives
Search behaviour gives us an unfiltered insight into what matters most to people after a diagnosis. It captures concerns that may never be voiced during a consultation and reveals the gap between understanding a condition and understanding how to live with it.
Search data offers something more than marketing insight. It provides a rare glimpse into the patient experience at one of its most vulnerable moments. It reminds us that while patients come to the clinic seeking answers about their eyes, many leave searching for answers about their lives, such as this question entered into an AI answer engine “What lifestyle changes can help prevent diabetes-related eye problems?”.
Understanding both perspectives can help create a more complete picture of the patient experience.
What the Questions Really Mean
The questions aren’t always about disease progression or treatment. They often relate to identity, independence, and everyday life. They reflect the practical and emotional adjustment that accompanies vision loss, and remind us that understanding a condition is only one part of adapting to it.
SeeWay’s broader analysis of thousands of search queries related to early vision loss, or low vision, found this pattern repeated across eye conditions. People weren’t simply searching for information about their eyesight. They were searching for information about their lives. They were looking for practical solutions, reassurance, and guidance on how to continue participating in the things that mattered most to them.
Of highest need is support to navigate the patient journey, interpret the medical jargon, and to adjust their mindset to future prognosis.3
A Profound Opportunity
For eye care professionals, these insights present a profound opportunity. While clinical care rightly focuses on diagnosis, treatment, and preserving vision, understanding what patients are likely to search for after they leave the clinic can help shape conversations before uncertainty gives way to fear or misinformation.
The information people encounter online after diagnosis matters. When online searches reinforce fear or present only worst-case scenarios, they can deepen uncertainty at a time when many people are already vulnerable. By contrast, research consistently shows that low vision care addressing both practical rehabilitation and emotional wellbeing improves confidence, adjustment, engagement in daily activities, and overall quality of life, highlighting the importance of connecting people with supportive, evidence-based information early.4
Acknowledging the emotional impact of vision loss, discussing likely lifestyle concerns and connecting patients with trusted support services, can help people feel better equipped for the road ahead.
Support from SeeWay
Recognising these unmet needs was one of the drivers behind the development of SeeWay, Guide Dogs’ free national support service for Australians adjusting to permanent low vision. Every major service component is designed to respond to an identified user need based on the organisation’s extensive research, rather than assumptions.
Designed to complement your clinical care, SeeWay provides trusted Australian information, access to counselling, practical resources, digital skills support, and lifestyle referral pathways that help people navigate the everyday challenges of living with vision loss.
If you’re diagnosing or managing a patient with any low vision condition, regardless of the stage of vision loss, consider recommending SeeWay. This organisation complements your services, offering patients a soft place to land when they are searching for emotional and practical support.
Visit: seeway.com.au or telephone (AUS) 1800 SEE WAY (1800 733 929).
Julia Walsh is a healthcare search listening analyst and digital health strategist whose work explores digital information ecosystems and the patient information journey.
Holly Kelly is Media and Communications Manager at SeeWay, leading communications that improve access to trusted information and holistic support for Australians living with low vision.
References
- Google search query data, Australia 30 June, 2026: ‘diabetic retinopathy’ monthly volume: 11,990; ‘diabetic eye’ monthly volume: 14,830; ‘diabetic macular’ monthly volume: 870.
- Walsh J, Jasprizza A, Jasprizza J. Search listening: Brand Medicine International, 2025. Available at com.au/search-listening [accessed Jul 2026].
- Walsh J, Jasprizza A, Jasprizza J. Search listening: Brand Medicine International, 2026 Julia Walsh, André Jasprizza and Jak Jasprizza Available at com.au/search-listening [accessed Jul 2026].
- Luu W, Kalloniatis M, Ly A. A holistic model of low vision care for improving vision-related quality of life. Clin Exp Optom. 2020 Nov;103(6):733-741. doi: 10.1111/cxo.13054.
