STUDY SAYS…

THOSE WHO consumed a western diet, or one high in red and processed meats, fried food, refined grains and high-fat dairy showed a higher incidence rate of late AMD, reports December’s British Journal of Ophthalmology. No dietary pattern, however, was associated with early AMD.

Share these findings with your patients! Include a definition of AMD, for example, "AMD is the loss of central vision as the retina is damaged or deteriorates with age," as well as an image demonstrating the disease. Add a call to action to make an appointment for your annual comprehensive eye exam. (Read the full study at http://bit.ly/2tfcbS0 .) You may also want to provide more information via a consumer-facing website, such as Bausch + Lomb's SightMatters.com .

Bonus tip: Use information about various disease states, such as AMD, and describe to your patients what tests, images, etc., administered during the comprehensive eye exam, aids in the doctor in identifying the signs of those diseases!

AMD/LOW VISION Awareness Month

SEVERAL EYE CARE-RELATED organizations, including the non-profit group Prevent Blindness, recognize February as the month to raise awareness for AMD and Low Vision.

For AMD posts to social media, see (left) “Study says. . .”

For low vision, create a post to let your patients know you offer solutions to their issues.

If you operate a practice that does not offer low vision services, finish it up with the causes of low vision and the ways in which an annual comprehensive eye exam can monitor for these.

If you do offer low vision services, this is an excellent time to spotlight some of those. Perhaps, take a photo of low-vision products offered in your office to accompany the post.

A video would also be a great idea, as it may be more accessible to these patients. Consider using the above content to pre-shoot or go live on either Facebook or Instagram! In doing so, a good background could be the space within your optical that houses low-vision solutions.

Continue the patient education by providing links for more information. Prevent Blindness has a consumer site, Living Well with Low Vision, at lowvision.preventblindness.org, which can be linked to for your patients.

Remember to end each post with a call to action to contact your office and include your contact information.

Hashtags in February

Use hashtags to connect online with those who share a common interest.

→ FEB. 9 When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie… Happy #NationalPizzaDay from your favorite eye care providers.

→ FEB. 14 All of the heart eye emojis for our patients this #ValentinesDay (Though if you’re actually seeing hearts, you should probably give us a call!)

→ Feb. 25 #MardiGras We strongly discourage the throwing of beads or jewelry of any kind this Fat Tuesday, and we are happy to provide you with a doctor’s note to forgo this tradition.

→ IMAGE DOWNLOAD LINK
bit.ly/OMtoolkit
All corresponding images are available to download and use for free.

Are you doing social media well? Have a post that went above and beyond your expectations? Want to highlight your social media manager’s awesome work?

→ WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Email Senior Editor Shannon Simcox (Shannon.simcox@pentavisionmedia.com). Or, reach out on Twitter and Facebook!