Transitions Optical and Eye Recommend in Canada have partnered to offer a Get Certified with Transitions contest to promote the Transitions Certification Program. The promotion will run until November 18, 2022 and is open to all Eye Recommend members across Canada.

To participate, clinics must become Transitions Certified by having at least three team members complete the online training before November 18, 2022, available at Transitionscertified.com/en-ca. Eye Recommend member practices who complete the program by the contest deadline will have a chance to win various prize packages.

Included in the available prizes will be early bird draws for a chance to win free pairs of Transitions^® Signature^® GEN 8^™ style color lenses. In addition, all practices that complete the Transitions Certification Program and become a Transitions Certified Provider by November 18, 2022 will be entered into a draw to win one of 10 Transitions merchandising kits to highlight and engage consumers about Transitions. The merchandising kits include seven Transitions lens glorifiers, one Transitions light cube, one pop-up banner, and a Nespresso coffee machine or $200 gift card. Participants that complete the Certification Program will also have a chance to win one of two trips for two team members to attend Transitions Academy 2023 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL.

“This collaborative contest with Eye Recommend provides an excellent opportunity for eyecare professionals to reach and/or exceed their goals before the end of the year,” said Christine Zeggil, national key account executive for Transitions Canada. “We believe that participating Eye Recommend member practices can gain the education and resources they need to strengthen their confidence in recommending Transitions lenses to their patients.” 

“We value the partnership with Transitions Optical to bring programs like this to our members in an informative and fun way,” said Mariko Macken, director of marketing, events and communications with Eye Recommend. “Education and training add value to each of our practices, so they can continue delivering the best patient experience…”

For further details and additional information regarding the‘Get Certified with Transitions’ contest, please reach out to your Eye Recommend Business Coach or Transitions Canada at cscanada@transitions.com.

Click HERE for the full press release.

The World Council of Optometry (WCO) and CooperVision, shared the results of a survey on the uptake of myopia management among global eye care professionals with attendees at the 2022 American Academy of Optometry annual meeting in San Diego.

Building on the WCO global resolution which hopes to advance myopia management as the standard of care, WCO and CooperVision presented a poster, Moving the Profession to Embrace Myopia Management (Block, Hendicott, Lumb, Cooper, Bockhahn-Tylecote) today at the conference.

In past decades, the increasing prevalence of myopia has been seen as a growing public health epidemic. There has been significant research delving into myopia as a disease showing that it can lead to vision threatening conditions.Clinically useful, evidence-based interventions to help delay the onset of and slow the progression of myopia are becoming increasingly available.For these reasons, WCO and CooperVision have worked to shift the profession away from the concept of simply correcting refractive error to understanding the elements of our recommended Standard of Care for Myopia Management by Optometrists (2021).  The standard of care is based upon the three pillars of mitigation, management, and measurement.

The poster explores the changing attitudes of optometrists worldwide in adopting myopia management in their practices.  As part of a virtual event, “Myopia Management: Putting it Into Practice” attended by 1,245 individuals representing 95 countries earlier this year, WCO conducted pre- and post-event surveys aimed at evaluating the impact of the educational content of the program on clinical practice. Questions included:

• Are you currently a practicing eye care professional?
• How long have you been practicing?
• Do you believe myopia management should be a standard of care for all myopic children?
• Do you currently offer myopia management in your practice?  If not, do you plan on adding it to your practice going forward?
• Did the information in the webinar change your approach?

Among 375 respondents to the survey:

• 83% of the pre-survey group responded that they “strongly agree” and 13% “somewhat agree that myopia management should be the standard of care
• On the post-survey, these increased to 87% “strongly agree” and 9% “somewhat agree”
• 89.5% in the post-survey reported that they would approach myopia management in children differently
• 156 eye care professionals indicated the need for further education on myopia management

“We are encouraged by the results of the survey which showed that global eye care professionals feel that learning more about myopia management is important to better care for their patients,” said Sandra Block, OD, World Council of Optometry President-elect.  “We believe the optometry sector should be mindful to create accessible, equitable, evidence-based resources that reflect the growth of knowledge in best practices for the management of progressive myopia in children.”

Click HERE for the full press release.

Mark your calendars for A Day of Educationwith Transitions Optical on Wednesday, November 2. The virtual event will give attendees the opportunity to expand their knowledge with insights from industry experts on photochromics, solutions for younger patients, light management and the latest Transitions^® lensproducts – Transitions^® XTRActive^® Polarized^™ and Transitions^® XTRActive^® new generation. Canadian attendees are welcome to join the event for the latest education for Transitions. The continuing education credit for opticians and optometric assistants is pending approval.

The online event will include various sessions presented in English only between 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST. Attendees are not required to attend the full event and can join sessions of interest as their schedule allows. Courses and events scheduled for the day include:

• The Bright Side of Kidz, Presented by Jackie O’Keefe
• The Power of Brands, Presented by Dr. Darryl Glover
• Bright and Effortless Light Protection for Everyone, Presented by Dr. Ryan Parker
• Recommending Multiple Solutions for Light Management, Presented by Dr. Chris Lievens
• Transitions Trivia Bowl
• Information regarding the Transitions Certification Program, and TransitionsPRO.com will be provided between each session

“We’re proud to be hosting this event for another year and to support the continued learning of industry professionals. For us, learning is the key to better understand the brand and how it works, and for building confidence in recommending Transitions and addressing customer concerns,” said Arnaud Rajchenbach, marketing and sales manager, Transitions Optical in Canada.

To register free-of-charge go to TransitionsPRO.com/Education.

Click HERE for the full press release.

New research from Ocular Technology Group and CooperVision is challenging a common approach to addressing presbyopia among eye care professionals. The study findings illustrate how patients fit with MyDay^® daily disposable multifocal contact lenses achieved better binocular visual acuity at all distances and significantly greater binocular summation compared to monovision.

Investigation on the Influence of Presbyopia Correction on Binocular Vision Status (Guillon M, et al) will be shared as a scientific poster during this week’s 2022 American Academy of Optometry annual meeting.*

The prospective, non-dispensing, randomized, crossover, double-masked study enrolled 21 habitual multifocal contact lens wearers, evenly split between emerging, established, and advanced presbyopes. Subjects were dispensed CooperVision MyDay^® multifocal contact lenses with the Binocular Progressive System^™ following the fitting guide and single vision contact lenses using the same material. This was followed by assessments for monocular and binocular through focus visual acuity, horizontal and vertical phorias and fixation disparity, and stereopsis.

Investigators determined that binocular vision status with MyDay^® multifocal was maintained when compared to spectacle correction and offered good visual acuity at distances ranging from 400 cm to 40 cm. In addition, overall through focus binocular summation (mean binocular summation for all distances) was significantly greater with MyDay^® multifocal than the monovision fits (p < 0.001). The interocular blur difference between monocular visual acuities in the dominant and non-dominant eyes with MyDay^® multifocal was significantly lower than across low, medium, and high add spectacle groups.

“This work provides compelling evidence for fitting MyDay^® multifocal contact lenses instead of using a monovision approach across all levels of presbyopia,” said Percy Lazon de la Jara, Director of Research Programs for CooperVision and a paper co-author. “It’s important to recognize that these observations are specific to MyDay^® multifocal. This is the first contact lens to employ the CooperVision^® Binocular Progressive System^™, a three-ADD method that uses different lens designs to optimize vision for every stage of presbyopia.”

MyDay^® multifocal allows the eyes to work in tandem, which gives a simple initial fit and an easy progression as the near requirement increases. Wearers embrace the lens from the start, with 92% of patients satisfied overall on the initial fitting.² That performance helps wearers get back on the go and spend more time on the things that matter most to them—and may give ECPs more time to fit more patients.

This study joins multiple company-led and funded scientific papers and posters that will be presented at the American Academy of Optometry meeting, which takes place from October 26-29 in San Diego, California.

 Click HERE for the full press release.

100% Optical has announced the launch of its 2023 education program and a new process for booking places at the popular CPD (Continuing Professional Development) sessions at the show. The three-day show, scheduled for February 25 through 27, 2023, at ExCeL London, UK, will offer the event’s biggest-ever education program, with about 140 CPD sessions available across 11 hubs. The sessions will include keynote lectures, discussion workshops, peer reviews and interactive poster trails.

Key themes will include myopia management, advances in clinical imaging, including the role of artificial intelligence, and dry eye disease. Hubs will include the Main Stage, the AOP Lounge, the Future Practice Hub, the Dispensing Workshop and the Optical Academy. 
 
The Main Stage will include presentations from Tim Cole on Saturday, Elizabeth Lumb on Sunday and Miriam Minihan on Monday. The AOP Lounge will focus on a series of peer review sessions and will feature content delivered by CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson Vision.  

The Future Practice Hub will feature a range of clinical sessions in four distinct areas. The Dispensing Workshop will showcase a broad suite of content to meet the needs of all attendees and highlight the role of the dispensing optician. Finally, the Optical Academy will host a variety of activities including a session to showcase the role of independent prescribers, discussion-based content on the use of OCT in contemporary practice and a workshop on scleral contact lenses.
 
Ian Beasley, PhD, DOptom, MCOptom, AOP head of education and Optometry Today clinical editor, said, “As the official education partner, the AOP is delighted to deliver a world-class program of education once again. As the new CPD cycle enters its second year, attendees will have the opportunity to meet the GOC’s requirements at an early stage in the year, consolidate and update their knowledge on key clinical topics and network with clinical and commercial contacts.”
 
Further sessions will be announced in November and December.

General visitor registration for 100% Optical is now open. To register, visit 100percentoptical.com.

Click HERE for the full press release.