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Visual check

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Visual check

Not just for opticians, National Eye Health Week offers a great opportunity to engage with customers

Which sense matters most to you? Obviously, they are all important – life without hearing music and conversation would be much duller, being able to feel and hold things is central to our everyday lives, and not being able to smell and taste would render meals functional and probably have a significant impact on our social lives – but few can imagine life without the gift of sight.

Optics is big business. In the year to March 2014, 12.8 million sight tests were provided to patients in England, which equates to nearly 24,000 sight tests per 100,000 people. The number has been steadily growing: 10 years previously, for example, the number of sight tests conducted in England hovered just above the 10 million mark.

More soberingly, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) says that almost two million people in the UK – one in every 30 – live with sight loss, of whom around 360,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted. Yet over half of these could be helped if they just underwent a simple sight test and were issued with new spectacles.

By 2050, the RNIB says that there will be nearly four million people with sight loss in the UK, partly because the population is ageing, but also because of rising levels of conditions like obesity and diabetes. National Eye Health Week, an annual event which this year takes place between 21 and 27 September, offers a great opportunity to try and raise awareness of the need to look after our eyes.

As David Cartwright, chair of the campaign, explains: “The latest health survey for England highlights a real disconnect between people’s perceptions of their eye health and the stark reality, with one in five respondents who rated their eye health as excellent or very good admitting that eyesight limits their activities at least sometimes.”

Get involved

It’s easy and free to participate in National Eye Health Week 2015. The first step is to register at the Vision Matters website, which will trigger the delivery of a free resource pack. The initiative is supported by – among others – the College of Optometrists, the research charity Fight For Sight, the Local Optical Committees’ Central Fund and the International Glaucoma Association, as well as LloydsPharmacy and Boots Opticians, so pharmacies making a splash will be in good company.

The campaign has a different theme each day of the week. David comments: “Focusing on a different daily theme gives us the opportunity to continually refresh our communications and reach out to some of those groups most at risk of avoidable sight loss.” Recognising that not everyone has the resources to change displays on such a frequent basis, he adds: “Reminders about the importance of regular sight tests will be a constant thread running across our diverse range of activities.”

Posters and leaflets are a great starting point when thinking about what you can do for National Eye Health Week in your pharmacy. Why not use some posters as a backdrop for your window display? As well as generic campaign materials, Vision Matters has templates that can be customised so you can personalise the campaign to the needs of your customers.

Then have a look around your pharmacy and identify products that are a good fit with the topic. Contact lens care, reading glasses and OTC eye care medicines are all obvious candidates, but what about specialised vitamin and mineral supplements? Nutrition is key to good eye health, yet a recent survey found that 60 per cent of people living in the UK had no idea that a poor diet could put their sight at risk, so why not offer information on this topic – or make it the focus of a display – as part of your campaign?

Make sure you explain that:

  • Cold water fish such as tuna, sardines and mackerel are rich in the omega-3 fatty acids that are needed for general eye health as they provide structural support to cell membranes. Research shows that eating fish just once a week can reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the UK’s leading cause of blindness, by up to 40 per cent, and is also thought to reduce the incidence of dry eyes
  • Blueberries and grapes contain anthocyanins, which are thought to help night vision
  • Green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale are rich in the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which have a role in preventing AMD and the formation of cataracts, and are also thought to reduce glare and discomfort, and enhance visual contrast
  • Whole grains and avocados contain vitamin B, a deficiency of which can increase the risk of cataracts and retinopathy
  • Eggs, garlic and onions are rich in sulphur, which can help protect against the development of cataracts
  • Soy products have a high level of vitamin E, essential for good eye health.

 

Know your stuff

Like many areas of health, ophthalmology (the study of the eyes) is full of baffling terms. Some to be aware of include:

Macular degeneration: develops when the part of the eye responsible for central vision (called the macula) becomes damaged. This is usually because of a build-up of waste products occurring over many years, but can sometimes strike suddenly due to blood vessels forming underneath the macula. It makes it difficult to see details immediately in front of the face, so tasks like reading are quite tricky.

Cataracts: the formation of cloudy patches in the normally clear lens of the eye, which cause blurred vision and difficulty seeing in dim and very bright light. They are very common as people get older. Cataracts are often removed as they worsen and a new lens inserted into the eye.

Glaucoma: is a condition in which the fluid inside the eyeball (known as the aqueous humour) doesn’t drain as it normally should and pressure inside the eye becomes high. This can damage the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, as well as nerve fibres from the retina, which lines the back of the eye. There are several types of glaucoma, with the most common being chronic open-angle glaucoma, which develops very slowly and affects peripheral vision.

Retinopathy: occurs when the blood vessels that supply the retina become damaged. The symptoms are not usually noticeable until the damage is quite advanced, but as the main cause of the condition is diabetes, this patient group usually undergoes regular screening to avoid long-term problems.

Short-sightedness, or myopia: is a condition in which close objects can be seen clearly but objects at a distance are blurred because the eyeball is longer than it should be. It ranges from very mild to severe, but is usually managed by wearing corrective lenses in the form of glasses or contact lenses.

Long-sightedness, also known as hyperopia: is the opposite of myopia, meaning that objects nearby are blurred while things that are further away are seen clearly. Presbyopia is the name given to hyperopia that develops as part of the ageing process, and many people manage it by using reading glasses.

Astigmatism: occurs as a result of a problem with the cornea or lens at the front of the eye, which results in blurred vision. It usually co-exists with myopia or hyperopia, and so is managed using special glasses or contact lenses.

Squint, or strabismus: is the term used to describe eyes that don’t point in the same direction. It is common, but early treatment with glasses, eye exercises or both can make a huge difference in preventing the patient developing a lazy eye (also known as amblyopia).

Creative thinking

A different approach would be to link the campaign to services already provided by your pharmacy or available locally. For example, by highlighting the fact that smokers are much more likely to develop AMD and cataracts than non-smokers, you could promote any quit services on offer. If your pharmacy offers advice on drinking alcohol, perhaps put some emphasis on how heavy drinking can cause optic neuropathy, a cause of visual impairment.

There is also evidence that exercise may reduce the risk of sight loss from narrowing or hardening of the blood vessels, high blood pressure and hypertension, and this can be tied into the pharmacy’s role of promoting wellness. Another idea is to forge links with a local optician and ask someone from the practice to run a training session on what they can offer patients. They might also be open to delivering a talk to a group of customers, or perhaps using a consultation room to conduct basic sight tests.

The benefits of this work both ways: the optician gets access to a new customer base, some of whom may not ever do anything about their eyesight, and they can raise awareness and promote their business, while your pharmacy offers an additional service that may be of benefit to many. Optician practices and pharmacies have much in common, delivering NHS services and being commercial businesses, and could learn quite a lot from each other.

The latest health survey for England highlights a real disconnect between people’s perceptions of their eye health and the stark reality

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