Mike Hale: Can you tell us about your career to date?
Jacqueline Henderson: I’ve been incredibly lucky to have spent 26 years in leadership positions across Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J)Consumer and MedTech businesses. I’ve led both global and regional teams in marketing, digital strategy, commercial operations and sales roles. I’ve lived and worked in the US and Canada, overseeing very differentiated healthcare systems across regions and countries.
Over the past six years, my focus has been in the Vision Care business, serving as vice president, marketing and connected commerce for Vision Care North America.
One of the aspects of my work that I’ve most enjoyed is the variety, something that I know will continue with a region as complex as Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). I am looking forward to working with the EMEA leadership team to understand how I can support continuing to drive value through the best possible patient and eye care professional (ECP) journey.
MH: How will your experience in other areas of the J&J business inform your approach to the Vision Care division?
JH: One of our core tenets, that I’ve seen translate throughout the business, is our mission to understand what our customers need and how best to meet those needs. This key aspect of my approach will remain consistent as we continue to grow Vision Care in EMEA. I also think the breadth, depth and length of my experience will all inform my approach. J&J has been an important part of my life for so long now that I have got a great understanding of how effectively our teams operate and I hope my experience across multiple markets and businesses verticals will add to the team’s success.
MH: As we hopefully move permanently out of the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, how does J&J assess the state of the UK contact lens market?
JH: We’re starting to see some encouraging signs of recovery, with our latest research indicating that overall contact lens consumption recovered by 13% in the UK last year compared to pre-Covid levels. This has been driven, in part, by an increasing number of occasions to wear contact lenses as Covid-19 restrictions have eased and people have been able to socialise more freely. As the UK has reopened so too has the market begun to recover. From wearing contact lenses in reopening offices for all day comfort through to wearing them on the sport fields to meet specific lifestyle needs, patients have been taking advantage of the freedom and comfort contact lenses can provide.
Of course, there is still a way to go, but I think we are at a unique point in time to shift how we support patients as their lives and needs are fundamentally changing. Our industry like others, will need to adapt to best support changing customer and patient needs, and I’m excited to be a part of that journey with J&J.
MH: Has the pandemic had lasting effects on contact lens fitting?
JH: From our discussions with opticians, yes, I think it has. While the fundamentals remain the same, practitioners have developed new ways of communicating with patients and supporting them through the contact lens fitting process. For some, contact lens fitting appointments don’t take as long in-person as before the pandemic, because they are sent more preparatory material and information, before coming in for their appointments.
One of the practitioners we work with has also described incorporating remote ways of working. For example, rather than asking patients to attend the practice she uses FaceTime for remote consultations and if all is well, she extends the recall period. Patients are advised that they will need to attend at the next recall and, of course, if there are any concerns they are asked to attend in-person. Patient satisfaction has been very high among those that choose this service while those that prefer an in-person consultation are welcome to do so. This way she tailors her services according to patients’ healthcare and lifestyle needs while remaining clinically safe. These types of developments are made possible by today’s technology and a more digital mindset.
That said, I think some of the pre-pandemic methods for contact lens fitting absolutely remain the same, however there are now more tools and methods at our disposal, thanks to new ways of working those practitioners have developed. The industry is continuously adapting which is brilliant to see.
MH: What support do practices need at this point and how is J&J Vision Care providing it? Does this include digital marketing support?
JH: The pandemic has created a large backlog of patients needing access to eye care both in optometric practice and in hospital settings. As the eye care industry catches up with the backlog, capacity is an issue and optometric practices still need to provide all their services to patients while supporting the hospital sector. Within this context, in the contact lens arena there are two main areas we are focusing on regarding patient engagement. Firstly, we are focused on how to retain current contact lens wearers to prevent drop out. And secondly, on how to carefully re-engage patients who might be open to contact lenses to come in for a trial. As more patients are returning to their opticians, we are having a lot of discussions with practices about how they can re-engage while supporting their capacity demands. For this reason, we are also training practice assistants to support contact lens work and help combat the backlog.
One digital solution we’ve introduced to help is the Acuvue 21 Day Challenge, a behaviour change programme designed to enhance new patients’ experiences with contact lenses from their first fitting to successful ongoing use. The campaign aims to support practitioners with a digital tool to help continue engaging new contact lens patients after they leave the practice – where they may need a little extra support – and ultimately improve our collective chance of converting a first-time trialist to a confident and loyal contact lens wearer. For both the 21 Day Challenge and as part of our professional support more broadly, we provide a range of resources through digital toolkits and e-learning training modules for staff and digital marketing materials shared directly with patients.
And launching in May, is our new platform jnjvisionpro.co.uk, where we’ve streamlined our entire online experience to better support practices digitally. Eye care professionals (ECPs) are now able to take online training courses, order products, and find an array of valuable information that can help drive their practices forward. By consolidating our digital resources and services into one online experience we hope to make it easier for practices to work with us and find the tools they need to help provide the best patient care possible.
MH: What are J&J Vision Care’s priorities for 2022 in the UK contact lens market?
JH: As our credo guides us, our first responsibility is to our patient. As such, our primary focus is supporting our customers in delivering the best possible eye care to their patients as their practices continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
The second is introducing new product innovation to ensure patients’ unmet needs are being catered for. More to come on this in the next few months, but we have a very exciting brand family launch – a first for J&J Vision and which we believe will bring the very best from Acuvue.
A third priority, which is perhaps spoken about less frequently, is sustainability. We are hugely passionate about protecting the planet and are relaunching our Acuvue Contact Lens Recycle Programme in the UK to expand the number of optician stores involved in the scheme and to raise consumer awareness.
MH: In the latest edition of Professor Philip Morgan’s contact lens prescribing trends study (Optician 05.11.2021), he highlighted that torics are now the most widely prescribed lens design. What do you think are the key factors behind this?
JH: It really pleases me to see that toric lenses have attained this level. Our priority is patient care, and we know that nearly half of those in need of vision correction have significant astigmatism in at least one eye. This is a combination of the industry supporting the education of ECPs and developing products that satisfy the needs of this large group. Acuvue has played a big role in this through our Eyelid Stabilised Design (ESD) technology that provides stable and clear vision without compromise. Our ESD technology delivers comfortable vision to monocular astigmats who would potentially experience a differential prismatic effect if wearing a prism ballasted lens in only one eye.
Furthermore, through our consumer campaigns, we have made the public more aware of astigmatism and how it can be easily corrected with contact lenses, including our campaign with brand ambassador Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the current world champion heptathlete.
MH: Professor Morgan’s article also showed the emergence of myopia management in the soft lens for children under-14 category. What are the company’s plans in the field of myopia management? Will the Abiliti overnight lens come to the UK this year?
JH: As a healthcare company it is our duty to help reduce the potential ocular morbidity that myopia presents. As such, myopia management is a big priority for us, but it is a complex intersection between ECP training, parent awareness and technology. We want to ensure that we get this right. We were really pleased to have provided myopia management guidelines last year and are continuing to invest millions of pounds in research into this space to develop a thorough understanding.
I can’t share set timings yet for when our myopia product will be rolled out in EMEA and the UK, but definitely more to come from us soon so watch this space. Rest assured this is a key priority for J&J Vision as we look to change the trajectory of myopia and tackle a growing epidemic that is the biggest eye health threat of the 21st century.
MH: Do you have any additional thoughts on current trends in contact lens prescribing?
JH: I see that there is a trend in increased astigmatic and multifocal fitting, which is great as it is supporting more patients to lead the lifestyles they want. There is, of course, more to come with further innovations such as drug-eluting contact lenses and contact lenses to assess health conditions such as diabetes. As manufacturers continue to innovate in this space, I would encourage ECPs to concentrate on the immediate need of patients they see day-to-day. We know that in the UK alone there are about five million contact lens considerers, and our focus should be to satisfy their needs as they attend practices every day for solutions to their eye care and lifestyle needs.
Through our Acuvue portfolio we have solutions for the vast majority of these considerers and we have an exciting new family of lenses coming in September to satisfy even more patient needs. So the trend I would like to see in contact lens prescribing is delighting the five million patients that access eye care but haven’t been given the option of contact lenses... yet.
