Accommodating nystagmus in the high street
People with nystagmus are usually signed off from hospital eye clinics as soon as their vision appears stable. This means they are looking to high street optical practices for their ongoing eye care. As a result, here at the Nystagmus Network we are constantly being asked to recommend ‘nystagmus friendly’ practices.
That’s why we’re introducing our ‘nystagmus friendly practices’ programme, bringing Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians together with people living with nystagmus.
What does nystagmus friendly mean?
Going for a sight test can be a stressful experience for someone with nystagmus. This can have a big impact on their vision. They need to feel reassured that all aspects of their condition will be taken into account and that the glasses or contact lenses they are prescribed fit the bill.
How does a practice become ‘nystagmus friendly’?
The Nystagmus Network began delivering CPD webinars and face to face interactive workshops in 2020, calling on the expertise of leading academics, clinicians and researchers we are privileged to work with. We currently have six CPD webinars available online at CPDpoints.com and are happy to design and deliver bespoke training for optical practices or local teams.
Practices are expected to undergo, or be able to evidence, a level of training in nystagmus accommodation when applying to join our database of ‘nystagmus friendly practices’. There is then just one final step.
Involving the nystagmus community
To gain full ‘nystagmus friendly’ status and appear on our database of recommended services, optical practices are to be visited by members of the nystagmus community who will then feed back on their experiences, highlighting any further training requirements or adjustments needed.
At the same time, we are putting together a guide for patients with nystagmus, to make their visit to the Optician less daunting, to include hints on selecting the right practice for them, information on what to expect and questions to ask. Part of that guide will be a pre-visit questionnaire, so they can share the results with their chosen practice. We welcome practice input with this.
Signposting to services
Ultimately, our purpose is to build a bank of ‘nystagmus friendly’ practices we can signpost people to. We have identified a huge and growing need for this within the nystagmus community and so we have charged ourselves with finding a way to meet that need by working with the practices themselves and the people they support.
Would you like to be a ‘nystagmus friendly practice’?
Email us at [email protected]
This project is funded by the Thomas Pocklington Trust