Elevating eye care and eye health standards through stakeholder collaborations and professional development
The standard of eye care and eye health service must continue to develop and evolve. However, it requires strong collaboration between stakeholders within the eye care industry.
Johnson & Johnson Vision’s (J&J Vision) APAC Vision Care Professional Education and Development Lead, Karen Cheng, asserted the importance of partnership between stakeholders in driving eye care and eye health standards.
An optometrist by training, Karen obtained her Doctorate of Optometry from the United States and practised optometry in the US and Asia. Before joining J&J Vision, she practised as a clinician and clinic manager.
Elevating eye care and eye health standards
When it comes to elevating eye care and eye health standards, she acknowledged that J&J Vision could not do it alone.
“We need multiple stakeholders within the ecosystem. And so, J&J Vision is always on the lookout for the right partners.
“As such, we work closely with professional associations, government officials and, of course, not forgetting the most important group, the eye care professionals (ECPs), practising eye care and eye health services daily.
“All these stakeholders are super important to us and together we can change the trajectory of eye care and eye health standards.”
Raising ECP professionalism standards
According to Karen, there are many ECPs in Malaysia, and therefore ECPs need to differentiate themselves and gain consumer and patient loyalty.
She said consumers should know and understand the professional services ECPs provide. It is more than just getting a quick eye power check and selecting the right glasses or contact lenses. Instead, they should look for and expect professional eye care and eye health services from qualified ECPs.
“ECPs are always at the heart of what we do. And our key objective is to help elevate the professionalism and standard of eye care services so that ECPs can be seen as the go-to primary eye care provider.
“Therefore, we help raise the ECP professionalism by partnering with professional associations and working together to uplift optometric skills, standards and best practices.
“For example, in Malaysia, as part of our eye health movement, we partnered with the Association of Malaysian Optometrists (AMO) and worked together to set the standards and guidelines for contact lens fitting and helped raise awareness of the importance of eye health to both consumers and ECPs.
“We used the guidelines to educate and train ECPs to be familiar with the contact lens fitting procedures. The guideline training was also included in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) curriculum, benefitting ECPs by earning CPD points to renew their licence.
“This an example of how through such partnerships, we can successfully enhance the skills of ECPs and standards of eye care.”
Committed to serving ECPs, consumers and communities
“In J&J Vision across the APAC region and globally, we have optometry and ophthalmology trained professionals working in various teams such as the Professional Education and Development team, Research and Development team, and Medical Affairs team.
“Therefore J&J Vision comprises a group of highly qualified professionals who can develop the right strategy and programme to serve both ECPs and the consumers.”
Apart from focusing on elevating the standards and professionalism of the eye care and eye health industry, J&J Vision has always been equally committed to positively impacting the global community.
The Sight for Kids programme is a charity founded and co-funded by J&J Vision and Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF). “Through this programme, over the last 20 years, we have screened more than 42 million children and treated more than 600,000 children in the underserved markets.
“This charity programme is one of our ways to give back to the community, particularly the underserved communities, and it is something that we at J&J Vision are collectively proud of,” shared Karen. – The Health
