Hoya Lens UK has launched resources to help eye care professionals in the UK and Ireland engage with schools and educate children about eye health.
The Eye Care We Care scheme partnered teachers with local practitioners to increase awareness among children in key stage two of eye conditions, such as myopia.
Optical practices that become accredited partners of Hoya’s initiative were provided with an interactive presentation, as well as guidance and tips on how to approach schools.
Hoya said involvement in the scheme would integrate optical practices into their local community and provided an opportunity to grow businesses.
Andy Sanders, professional services manager at Hoya Lens UK, said: ‘Hoya has always been passionate about eye care and by raising the importance of eye health in schools we aim to support a lifetime of awareness for teachers, parents and guardians, and ultimately the children of the future.’
Learning through the eyes
Hoya said it was alarmed to learn that schools did not already have schemes in place that focused on the importance of eye health.
The lens company added that vision screening did not take place in schools as it once did, which meant teachers were not as aware of what to look out for in their classrooms.
Eye Care We Care presented an opportunity for optical practices to take the expertise and knowledge they have into schools and promote messages about eye care, Hoya said.
Vinni Virdee, vision care consultant at Hoya, told Optician that optical practices should sign up to the scheme because improving children’s vision was the right thing to do, ethically. She added that it could aid community integration, differentiate the practice from others and help increase awareness about children’s eye health.
Opportunities to grow the business via the scheme was down to the practice’s own initiative, Virdee said. ‘They can look at the overall impact, that by giving up some of their time, they can invite families back in. Better community alignment will mean growing the business for some and footfall can increase because more families will be attracted to the practice.’
Virdee said vision screenings in schools had decreased over the years as school structures and funding changed. ‘There was a time when there was a dedicated welfare department or school nurse but now due to things like funding, usually someone just oversees first aid for general ailments. The impact is that perhaps some parents of today assume vision screening is taking place in school, as they remember having it done when they were younger.
‘Teachers are not being trained in classrooms about what to look out for because vision is not a topic generally among the education sector, yet the majority of learning is actually done through our eyes. Sometimes classroom teachers assume a child is disruptive when it might be linked to their vision and what they can actually see,’ Virdee said.
Workbook for eye health
Resources have been created to improve knowledge of eye health in an innovative and fun way for children, such as a workbook created by an optometrist that Hoya has partnered with.
Additional learning materials have been designed for teachers to involve children and encourage learning about eye health.
Jean Kelly, owner of Eglinton Eyecare in Northern Ireland, authored the Your Eyes interactive workbook, which followed the story of three bears across 48 pages for children aged seven to nine.
It was designed to educate children and parents on the importance of eye exams, why sunglasses were worn, what happens in an eye exam and what long-sight, short-sight and astigmatism meant. It also included activity pages and other educational pages for children to complete.
‘I’m so delighted with the finished product. Not only can the books add fantastic learnings and fun to school talks, but they can also be given away to children having their eyes examined or sold in practice. The cover of the books can be personalised to any practice with the practice details, logo and a QR code to direct readers to a landing page on their own website,’ Kelly said.
Hoya said resources like the Your Eyes workbook were helpful tools for optical teams presenting to primary school children and community groups on healthy eye care.
It ensured the message about the importance of regular eye care for children from a young age was heard by parents, as a parent’s section was also included within the book, the company explained.
Hoya said the workbook used augmented reality when read with an app, which brought the pages to life and helped create engagement with children.