Offering patients a choice

CooperVision has made its MiSight 1 Day contact lens available at all Boots Opticians in the UK as part of its efforts to address the global myopia epidemic.

The contact lens has been stocked by the multiple since 16 January following a trial period that started in May 2018, which was used to gauge interest among patients and practitioners in the myopia management option.

Optometrist and professional services manager at CooperVision, Neil Retallic, said: “We effectively seeded MiSight to learn and understand parent needs and share best methods of communication to evolve our approach. The high level of interest from families and the committed enthusiasm by practitioners throughout was impressive.”

Training was provided on MiSight’s effectiveness prior to the launch through webinars, which educated 950 optometrists and contact lens opticians at Boots Opticians.

“The impact of these webinars was a reduction in clinicians lacking confidence with how to approach myopia management from 80% to 27%,” Mr Retallic shared.

He added that specific support team training modules have been developed to aid communication outside of the consultation room. Consumer tools are also available to help parents and children understand more about contact lenses and myopia management.

Optometrist and clinical governance officer at Boots Opticians, Gordon Simpson, told OT that practitioners at the multiple like to be able to offer a wide range of contact lenses to their patients.

“We trialled fitting the lens in five stores last year and the feedback on the comfort, vision and child-friendly properties of it was very encouraging. Knowing this, it was important for us to look towards being able to offer this option to suitable patients across all of Boots Opticians,” he shared.

Speaking about the training, Mr Simpson said that optometrists and contact lens opticians were able to interact and ask questions, which increased confidence levels in their ability to use MiSight competently.

A shared goal

Speaking about how the partnership came about, national accounts manager of Boots Opticians at CooperVision, Robin Brook, told OT that Boots Opticians and CooperVision have a long-standing relationship.

The introduction of MiSight at the multiple was the result of “a shared goal” and the companies have been working closely to drive growth in the contact lens category.

Ms Brook said: “Bringing children into contact lenses at an earlier age should help create more contact lens wearers nationally and promote staying in lens wear for life. In addition, 5% of MiSight sales will go towards supporting children-related charities.”

For optometrist and clinical services manager at Boots Opticians, Kyla Black, providing MiSight was “a necessity” to help prevent the prevalence of myopia from growing.

She said: “Myopia is not just about poor eyesight, it’s about increased risk to a number of eye diseases. Boots Opticians has an opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives by offering this lens.”

“It offers patients a choice to make a difference to their lifestyle and their future eye health. This option must be talked about and offered to children who are suitable,” she added.

Mr Simpson shared that it has been great to see how well young patients have responded to wearing MiSight contact lenses and the difference it has made to their lives.

“It’s nice to be able to offer an option of contact lenses and with a degree of hope that the lens design could also slow their child’s progression of short sightedness,” he concluded.