College leads calls for dedicated dementia pathway

A call for a dedicated Dementia Eye Care Pathway has been made following the early findings of the Prevalence of Visual Impairment in Dementia (PrOVIDE) project.

In an article published in the College’s Optometry in Practice journal, the team behind the study recommended that a dementia diagnosis should automatically trigger a range of measures, as laid out in a Dementia Eye Care Pathway that would provide a route through the care system that ensured people are guided to timely and appropriate treatment.

The two-year project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and was led by the College of Optometrists with nationwide support from The Alzheimer's Society, Thomas Pocklington Trust and Newcastle, City and Birmingham universities.