Healthy InSights® Informativo
Understanding Your Hispanic Patient

As you begin the New Year, we are pleased to be able to bring you the first issue of Informativo in 2008.

Transitions celebrated the culmination of 2007 with the release of a consensus paper, titled Factors Impacting Vision Care and Vision Wear of Culturally Diverse Groups: Focus on Hispanics, which summarizes discussions that took place during a roundtable event, held in Washington, D.C. on April 30.

Authored by the roundtable participants, the paper points out that overcoming obstacles of culturally diverse groups is not simply a matter of addressing language barriers, but also involves recognizing serious clinical eye health risk factors among varied populations, and understanding the cultural differences of each specific group. The authors share practical tips for overcoming language barriers, plus advice for how to better relate to Hispanic patients on a culturally competent and clinically informed level. The paper surmises that by utilizing education as a key strategy, eyecare professionals and the optical industry will be able to make an impact in affecting change for this population.

Educational priorities for the Hispanic community include:

  • Importance of preventative vision care, including getting regular eye exams and wearing UV protection, for eye- and overall-health.
  • Impact of systemic health factors, such as diabetes, on vision.
  • Information on how to access health and vision care services.

One of the key outcomes from the roundtable discussion was the need for more involvement on a grassroots level in the Hispanic community. Engaging Hispanics throughout their everyday lives with meaningful messages about the importance of vision care and vision wear, is an effective way to raise eye health awareness among this group. There is also a great business opportunity for eye care practices who get involved on a grassroots level - the chance to show the community that their practice is both passionate and well-trained to care for Hispanic patients.

Community involvement can be conducted in various forms - from participation in health fairs, to local media outreach to word-of-mouth marketing. Transitions is taking action throughout the community to improve the eye and overall health of Hispanics, and recognizing the work of so many others to do the same. We hope that this issue of Informativo inspires you to take action in your own neighborhood and grow your Hispanic patient base.

The consensus paper can now be downloaded from the Transitions Web site by going to www.transitions.com or you can obtain a copy by contacting Transitions Optical Customer Service by calling (800) 848-1506.

As always, we hope you find this newsletter useful. Please feel free to forward to your colleagues and share the insights. If there is something you would like to read more about, please e-mail us at healthyinsights@transitions.com


Insights From the Experts

Advice From Dr. Feinfield

As a long-time provider of eye care services in the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and Burbank, Calif. areas, I have witnessed the changes in my community and learned to successfully cater to the diverse client base that my practice serves.

One of the most significant changes happening in California and throughout the U.S. is the rapid growth of the Hispanic population.

I have been fortunate that throughout my education as an ophthalmologist, I have been engrossed in the Hispanic culture. My professional training has led me from Southern California to Louisiana and Guatemala, exploring diverse Hispanic cultures in those regions.

Drawing on my experience, I have discovered that getting involved on a local level is a valuable way to make inroads with varied ethnicities and grow a diverse patient base. Showing people that you are culturally sensitive and have an interest in their way of life can establish a common ground and reinforce the welcoming environment of your practice. I strive to create interpersonal relationships with my Hispanic patients, and train my staff to do the same. In fact, my practice has established an ethnically diverse and bilingual staff that can accommodate patients who speak a variety of different languages. Forming this staff has allowed my practice to grow a Hispanic patient base of more than 30 percent. The open and friendly culture that is promoted within has extended out into the community and drawn people in.

As discussed during the Transitions roundtable, a system that reflects the community it serves will better meet the needs of the community.

Ways to Get Involved in the Community:

  • Write a column on eye health and have it translated for a local Spanish-language paper or Hispanic publication. Certified translators can be found online, with services offered at a reasonable cost.
  • Volunteer at a local school to deliver education about eye health. Can leverage materials available through the Eye Didn't Know That! program from Transitions Optical. Learn more at www.eyedidntknowthat.com or www.yonosabiaeso.com
  • Work with colleagues in primary medicine to encourage referrals for eye exams.

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Transitions Outreach Updates

Miami Health Fair Reaches Local Hispanics

As part of its grassroots outreach, Transitions recently partnered with the Broward-Community College Vision Care Program and Miami-Dade College Opticianry Program to sponsor a booth and organize the participation of local opticianry students at a community health fair event on Nov. 10 in Miami, Fla. The Feria de Salud por tu familia health fair, presented by the American Diabetes Association, was an ideal opportunity for Transitions to reach thousands of Hispanics with important messages about vision care and vision wear.

Lloyd Holness, a local optician and associate dean of the Vision and Respiratory Programs at Broward Community College, and Cindy Cork, an optometrist with Miami-Dade Community College, assisted Transitions by arranging for 15 student volunteers to conduct free vision screenings during the fair. The student volunteers also handed out valuable educational materials from Transitions, in English and Spanish, about the importance of regular eye exams and UV protection. Visitors to the booth had the opportunity to directly ask questions of on-site optometrists, as well as had access to bilingual educational displays and brochures.

Health fairs are also a great way for a practice to strengthen their credibility within a local community, often opening doors for partnerships with reputable associations and new business opportunities with the Hispanic community.

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Marketing Matters

Tips From a Sales Perspective

Beyond language barriers, personal interactions with Hispanic patients can affect the quality of your patient relationships and the potential to grow your business. With the right approach, you can increase your Hispanic patient base and create a great opportunity for incremental sales. Some tips to improve your business include the following:

  1. Don't make assumptions about how much your Hispanic patients want to spend even if they do not have insurance. Eyecare professionals should not hesitate to discuss several eyewear choices with Hispanic patients. Health insurance is not necessarily a barrier, as many are willing to pay out of their own pockets.
  2. Use eye contact and positive body language. This will allow you to enhance communication and show interest in your Hispanic patients.
  3. Use icebreakers. Ask about your patient's personal life or share a story. Hispanic patients appreciate the acknowledgement of their family or an opportunity to share more about special holidays or events that they celebrate.
  4. Be animated and emotional. The Hispanic culture tends to be more expressive in their interactions. Mirror this behavior to put patients at ease.
  5. Use demonstration and allow extra time for patients to look at visuals. This will help make your Hispanic customers feels comfortable without feeling rushed or frustrated.

Train your staff on how to create or enhance great interpersonal relationships and overcome communication barriers with Hispanic patients by using Transitions Dispensing to your Hispanic Patientsspan bilingual education course.  Transitions also offers a range of tools to enhance the communication between an eye care professional and a Hispanic patient, regardless of language barriers.  All of Transitions tools can be requested through customer service.

More of these tips are available in our Dispensing to Your Hispanic Patients Bilingual Course. Transitions also offers a range of tools to enhance the communication between an eye care professional and a Hispanic patient, regardless of language barriers.

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Transitions Tools

Spanish Language Tools

Transitions is now offering a Spanish version of its Eyeglass Guide. This interactive tool details the wide range of eyewear choices available, providing valuable education prior to the eye care appointment, and helps prompt dialogue between the Spanish-speaking consumer and eyecare professional. Available as a magazine insert - and as a Web site at www.AprendaSobreanteojos.com - the guide reviews four steps for consumers to consider before buying their next pair of glasses:

  • Look at lenses: A series of questions helps patients explore their visual needs, positioning lenses as the first concern when choosing eyewear.
  • Focus on frames: Advice on frame selection includes considerations such as frame size and material, as well as fashion tips.
  • Think Transitions: Information on the benefits of Transitions® lenses helps consumers understand how photochromics can enhance and protect vision.
  • Mull over multiple pairs: Encourages consumers to consider owning more than one pair of glasses to help ensure the best possible vision for every activity.

The Eyeglass Guide also urges Spanish-speaking patients to seek further advice from their eyecare professional by providing a checklist of topics to bring to their appointment. The online version even features a five-minute quiz that offers a "virtual" eyeglass recommendation.

Eyecare professionals can order Spanish versions of in-office tools that complement the Eyeglass Guide program. These include an in-office poster that can be used to remind patients of the "four things to know before you buy your next pair of eyeglasses." Additionally, eyecare professionals can feature a counter card display that includes take-away copies of the Eyeglass Guide. These mini-versions of the guide can be displayed in a waiting room or given to patients to complete when they sign in. Also, those with a Web presence can provide patients with a link to the Eyeglass Guide Web site.

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Making a Difference

Hispanic Student Rewarded for Community Education

Transitions Optical, Inc. awarded 10 student optometrists and 10 student opticians with $500 scholarships through its first annual Transitions® Healthy Sight for Life Fund scholarship program. The program encouraged students to explore Healthy Sight Counseling and the role of the eyecare professional in patient care. This year, Ruth Marquez, a Hispanic optometry student attending the Southern California College of Optometry, won a scholarship for her hard-work and dedication to supporting awareness for healthy sight.

In the spring of 2007, Ruth initiated a community-based project, focused on patient education about diabetes and dilation. Her goal was to convince at least 75% of Hispanic patients with diabetes to get a dilated eye exam. To start the project, Ruth conducted a survey during a local Hispanic fair in Pico Rivera, Calif. The survey consisted of 10 questions and was given to Hispanics at the fair both before and after they were given any information on the topic. Twenty seven surveys were completed and yielded the following results:

  • 41% had diabetes
  • Only 18% knew that there were 2 types of diabetes
  • 55% thought that diabetes could be controlled only with medication
  • 85% did not know what dilation was
  • 19% had a dilated eye exam within the last two years and 36% of those people had diabetes

Of course, Ruth found this very concerning, considering that as an intern in her clinic, she had seen many Hispanic patients with uncontrolled diabetes. She had observed that most Hispanic patients were not even aware that diabetes could affect their vision - to the point of blindness.

Ruth provided patient education to Hispanics at the fair, including an overview of systemic complications from diabetes, information about the importance of diet and exercise in controlling diabetes, and complications of they eye that can be exacerbated by diabetes. Ruth stressed the importance of getting an annual eye exam with dilation. She found that all of the Hispanics were amazed that an optometrist can see in the back of their eyes.

Ruth also noticed that most of the Hispanics she saw were not wearing sun protection. As a result, she created an education piece about the importance of UV protection. Ruth recommended Transitions® lenses, and noted that many Hispanics were very attracted to Transitions lenses for the convenience and protection that they provide. Many Hispanics were amazed that cataracts can form as a result of uncontrolled diabetes and increased exposure to UV radiation.

Ruth learned that as an eye care provider and advocate within her community, it is possible to make a significant difference in the eye and overall health of Hispanics.

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¡Ojo! for Eye Health

Hispanics and Macular Degeneration

An eye disease that commonly affects Hispanics is Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) - a condition that progressively destroys the macula, the central portion of the retina, impairing central vision.

Approximately 10 percent of Hispanics are considered in jeopardy for developing advanced forms of AMD, and anyone over age 60 is at even greater risk. All too often, Hispanics do not receive preventative care and seek assistance when AMD has progressed to a loss of vision.

While AMD occurs at high rates among other ethnic groups, according to The Latino Eye Study conducted among 6,200 Hispanic men and women over age 40 in Los Angeles, early macular degeneration among Hispanics was found at a rate higher than in other ethnic groups. Out of all the participants with AMD, only 57 percent reported ever visiting an eye care practitioner and only 21 percent had done so within the last year.

Since early detection of macular degeneration is very important because there are treatments that can delay or reduce the severity of the disease, eyecare professionals should look to educate Hispanics about AMD as part of a routine examination, along with addressing other conditions that affect them in high proportions including cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy.

Because so many Hispanics never make it to the eye doctor to receive this education, community outreach programs are particularly important to encourage routine checkups and important minimize the severity of common eye diseases among this group.

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