Keeping it personal

“If you think you have a problem with your vision and require vision correction, the first thing that most people will associate this with is spectacles,” optometrist, practice owner and a professional affairs consultant on the Johnson & Johnson Vision team, Faye McDearmid, told OT.

“This is normal as when you go into an opticians the first thing you see is spectacles,” she added.

McDearmid acknowledged that as a result, “contact lenses can be a little alien to people when they have not worn them before.”

Speaking to OT about the role her practice team plays in supporting patients who are trying contact lenses for the first time, McDearmid highlighted that it is important for the whole team to feel comfortable talking to patients about contact lenses.

“Everyone plays an important part in the patient journey, and we talk about contact lenses as much as possible with patients in order to normalise it,” she shared.

McDearmid ensures that her practice team is comfortable and confident having these conversations by providing training internally and through contact lens representatives.

Without experience and training, team members could feel nervous talking about contact lenses in case they make a mistake. By ensuring the team is trained to the same standard makes such a difference, McDearmid shared.

She explained that her practice team knows that “due to the variety of contact lenses available in market today, generally, most people can be fitted with contact lenses.”

“Everyone plays an important part in the patient journey, and we talk about contact lenses as much as possible with patients

Talking about the role of the front of practice team, when a patient is on a contact lens trial, McDearmid encourages her team to talk to them openly and positively.

“A new client may feel more comfortable talking peer-to-peer with an optical assistant – they may feel a little intimidated talking to the clinician initially,” she shared.

“The team is free to express that the patient can talk to them,” she added.

The conversation can include team members sharing their own contact lens experiences too.

“By sharing our own first-hand experiences with patients, we hope that our experiences can be used to help someone else,” McDearmid said.

“We let patients know that it’s okay if it feels odd in the beginning, and remind them that we are here to guide them through that. We reinforce this by highlighting the benefits,” she added.

In the testing room, McDearmid tries to pre-empt how a new contact lens patient may later feel by reinforcing, “it’s perfectly natural to feel anxious at first, we all did, including me.”

The trial

At the start of a contact lens trial, it is important for McDearmid and her team to have identified the key benefit of wear for the patient. This is done through a lifestyle questionnaire. However, the optometrist emphasised, “we don’t use a physical questionnaire, as this can feel very tick-boxy.”

“We really try to build and retain a patient’s interest in being successful in contact lenses by linking it to a personal lifestyle benefit,” McDearmid said.

She acknowledged: “It’s a very British thing when asked if you want to try something to think that it’s either going to cost something, or it’s going to hurt, and to say ‘no’ as a result.”

When linking contact lens wear to a personal benefit, if interest is shown, at the end of an appointment, McDearmid will ensure she places a lens on the eye so the patient can experience what it feels like while they are interested.

“I’ve never really had anyone not book with for at least a trial from there – why wouldn’t they when they can see how easy it is,” she said.

We want to give people permission to find it difficult so we can resolve it. This approach stops people feeling awkward or embarrassed bringing it up or needed more time

Troubleshooting

When a patient is on a contact lens trial, a practice team member will perform follow-up calls.

McDearmid suggested that these conversations should be open, friendly and informal where possible. During her time as a practice owner, she has found this format to have the most positive impact.

“I think this way you get the best feedback,” she said, explaining: “If you are given one-word answers, that is an indicator that it’s not going well. If it is going well, usually people are happy to talk about it.”

From there, her team will use more direct questions, for example, asking how handling or application and removal is going. They make notes on the patient record about the support that may be required, inviting them back into practice, or asking McDearmid for advice, if needed.

Drawing on their own contact lens experiences during these follow-up calls enables the team to use phases such as ‘Don’t worry, it took me ages at first too, and now I’m very used it.’ Or, when asking ‘Are you achieving getting them in and out? Don’t worry if you are not, we can provide more support – let’s get you booked in.’

McDearmid highlighted: “Most patients are fine, but we want to give people permission to find it difficult so we can resolve it. This approach stops people feeling awkward or embarrassed bringing it up or needing more time.”

Checking in with the patient during a trial period could be the most important step to prevent drop out.

“It’s about having a process to check-in and to find out what the problem is. This could be handling, comfort or vision – either way, we can only resolve it if we know about it and talk to the patient.”