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When optical professionals travel to far flung countries to aid hundreds of people, play a part at international events like the Olympics or further their local community, the question really is, why wouldn't you volunteer?
One of the best known and most popular ways to volunteer is to do so through Vision Aid Overseas. The charity offers optometrists, dispensing opticians, optical technicians, optical assistants and ophthalmologists the opportunity to take part in short-term placements lasting two weeks. The placements involve joining a team of professionals working on a specific project suitable to the volunteer's experience in one of the partner countries, which are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
'For over 27 years, Vision Aid Overseas has utilised the skills of optometry professionals in the UK - although we are looking to expand our volunteer base internationally in the future,' comments Jeremy Jalie, development director of VAO.
'The roles our volunteers undertake are extremely varied. As well as directly helping patients, our teams establish vision centres, undertake education and training activities and help to provide support and experience to our partners.'
According to Jalie, the main focus of the short-term placements is helping local eye care workers to boost their skills by providing short courses on optometry or optics or mentoring eye care workers in clinical practice.
'There are also opportunities to help establish vision centres by installing or maintaining equipment and to work alongside local clinicians working on outreach programmes,' he adds.
VAO also runs long-term placements which are usually financially supported. Completing a short-term placement is a good first step for people interested in pursuing these opportunities. The next Volunteer Development Programme where new members will be able to learn about going on projects will be held in the spring of 2013. Details will be published on the VAO website (see Useful Resources).
Help for the homeless
Closer to home but no less vital or rewarding to volunteer for is Vision Care for Homeless People (VCHP). The charity is looking for optometrists, dispensing opticians, optical assistants and receptionists.
'As a charity we provide free eye tests and brand new glasses to homeless and other vulnerable people,' comments managing director Harinder Paul. 'The service and facilities we provide are as good as those on the high street.'
The eye tests and dispensing are carried out at clinics, which use permanent consulting rooms inside homeless centres. VCHP has three clinics in London at Marylebone, Shepherd's Bush and Liverpool Street; one in Brighton and one in Birmingham.
'The clinics are kitted out just like a high street practice, all have top end equipment and most have fundus cameras,' says Paul. 'The eye tests are done by optometrists at the usual pace and dispensing opticians take care of dispensing new glasses.'
Clinics are run for half-day sessions of about four hours, with some held in the mornings and some during the afternoon.
'We would love to do more days of testing, but we need more volunteers to do so,' says Paul. 'A lot of volunteers do shifts on a monthly or fortnightly basis but people can do more or less than that too. There is no preset requirement; we do whatever works for the individual.'
Paul is keen to set straight some common misconceptions about the experience of testing homeless people.
'People often think it is going to be difficult to test homeless people and this usually comes down to two main issues. The first is that they are concerned about personal hygiene problems and I can say that with the vast majority of our patients you wouldn't be able to tell they are homeless in that respect. Most live in half-way houses with facilities and even those who do sleep rough have access to showers through services and charities.
'The second factor is safety. Most of our volunteers are female and we've never had any problems in terms of safety in all the years we have been running the charity. This is safeguarded by a no-lone-worker policy and other working practice guidelines that are strictly observed.'
Paul stresses that any individual is welcome to drop in or arrange an observation day to find out more.
'The patients tend to present a higher incidence of dry eye and foreign bodies because they are outdoors a lot. They may not be seeing their GPs regularly so identification of diabetes and high blood pressure can be made from time to time.'
Optometry students are encouraged to volunteer in a supporting role. During the Christmas period VCHP will be lining up with national homeless charity Crisis with the aim of doing double shifts and testing 250 people.
For more information go to the website listed in Useful Resources.
Fun and games
As Lucy Hall (see panel above) testifies volunteering for an eye care role at the Olympics was a truly wonderful experience. Those who missed out last time will have a second chance at the upcoming Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
'The role of the optometry clinic will be to provide essential eye care services which will allow individuals to perform their roles at the Games,' says Angela Carson, lead optometry expert for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
'This includes athletes, games family, workforce and media. The feedback from those involved in the clinic at the London 2012 Olympics was that they had a fantastic time. We want to replicate this in Glasgow - so volunteer and be part of something special.'
Similarly to the Olympics, optometry services will be sited within a polyclinic at the athletes' village. There are volunteering roles for optometrists, dispensing opticians, ophthalmologists and optometric assistants. Applications open in mid-January 2013, but it is possible to register interest now at www.glasgow2014.com.
Volunteers must be available for eight days between July 23 and August 3 2014. Other time commitments involved include attending an informal interview in Glasgow, undertaking up to four days of training in the run up to the games and also picking up the official uniform. 'Volunteers should have a sense of humour, enjoy helping people and have plenty of enthusiasm and energy,' adds Carson.
Volunteers for India
Dr Shehzad Naroo, senior lecturer at Aston University, has done a variety of charity work including some in India and Pakistan.
'Since 2003 I have been working with a number of training institutions to improve educational standards and patient services at various eye hospitals and places in India and Pakistan, as well as other work in other support capacities. These places often run eye camps and optometrists can be involved in helping with screening. This generally involves cataracts, school children, general clinics or rural clinics. Many of these hospitals are registered as local charities or NGOs and opportunities exist in Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi in Pakistan and Bilga (Punjab) and Hyderabad in India.'
Dr Naroo has organised this through personal contacts rather than for a specific charity and says if someone wishes to volunteer for this kind of work he can put them in touch with the relevant person. Furthermore there are opportunities for students to visit places like these as observers for one week.
Dr Naroo also volunteers for Mosaic, a mentoring group for children in the UK which mainly works through professional people serving as positive role models.
People interested in volunteering in India and Pakistan or getting involved with the Mosaic project should contact Dr Naroo via his email address which is listed in the Useful Resources.
Slumdoctor project
Another option for ECPs interested in voluteering is to take part in the Slumdoctor project, an amalgamation of a UK registered charity and two Indian charities. The project involves a group of approximately 30 clinicians who fly out once a year from all parts of the UK to India to treat thousands of patients.
Dr Scott Mackie took part in the 2012 project to Phillaur in Northern India as the first British optometrist to travel with Slumdoctor.
The project deals with various aspects of health and medicine. Using Punjabi-English translators the patients are triaged and sent to the relevant sub-specialities which include optometry and ophthalmology, general medicine, dermatology, gynaecology, radiology, rheumatology, pharmacy audiology and diabetology. Over 300 people were listed for cataract operations, some of whom had travelled up to 100km on foot to attend the camp. 'This was a wonderful opportunity to assist some of the poorest patient groups in the world,' comments Dr Mackie.
The 2013 camp will be held in March at Khattar near Jalandar in Northern India. More information on volunteering for the trip or getting involved with fundraising can be found on the Slumdoctor website listed in Useful Resources.
Away from clinical skills there is a world of fundraising opportunities for all sorts of eye-related causes. You can participate in the Fight for Sight Carrot Walk around London or raise money for Moorfields Eye Charity. Alternatively, come up with a unique fundraising idea for a cause you believe in. ?
