Something you have probably learned working in a service-oriented business is that the more you know about your customers, the better you can connect with them. Transitions Optical recognizes this, and is taking steps to better understand Hispanic patients, so we can provide you with the information and tools you need to be successful with this growing market.
September 15 - October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, a perfect time to learn more about the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. It is also a great opportunity for you to market your practice to Hispanics, connect with the Hispanic patients you already have, and enhance your relationship with this community. For more information about Hispanic Heritage Month visit: www.nclr.org/section/hispanic_heritage_month
or http://tuvida.aol.com/especiales/hispanic-heritage-month
Earlier this year, Transitions hosted a roundtable of professional thought-leaders to understand the factors influencing the vision care and vision wear needs of Hispanics.
In this issue, we share some insights gathered during the roundtable event, providing information about the Hispanic population's most common cultural values and what this means for professional-patient interaction. You'll also learn about new tools from Transitions that address these values and tips for success. Finally, you can read about Transitions Optical's efforts at the national and regional level to share important eye health messages with Hispanic consumers, directing them to their eyecare professionals for more information.
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
Seeking expert advice on the best ways to support the industry in meeting the needs of Hispanic patients, Transitions Optical hosted a roundtable titled "Factors Impacting the Vision Care and Vision Wear of Culturally Diverse Groups: Focus on Hispanics" on April 30. The event explored obstacles to providing quality eyecare for the Hispanic population, and identified strategies that eyecare professionals and the optical industry as a whole can embrace to overcome them.
Eyecare professional participants included accomplished educators and practitioners with thriving Hispanic practices in high-density Hispanic regions such as Texas, Florida, California and New Jersey.
Representatives from the National Council of La Raza and Latino Health Access contributed to the discussion, offering information about successful community initiatives and educational marketing strategies targeting Hispanics.
Discussion topics ranged from eye health risk factors to cultural differences and emphasized the role of the eyecare industry in achieving overall health. Several obstacles facing the vision care and vision wear of Hispanic patients were identified, including:
A consensus paper based on the roundtable discussion is in progress and will be posted to the Partners in Education section of the Transitions Web site for future reference.
To best communicate with your Hispanic patients, it is helpful to understand some cultural values many Hispanics share, and how these values can influence the way you should interact.
Because of the cultural value of familismo (family), Hispanics are more likely to trust the recommendations of community members than mass media, making word-of-mouth marketing especially effective among this population. If your Hispanic patients are happy with your service, they are likely to generate new business for you by spreading the word among their families and even the entire community (which is often considered part of the extended family).
Providing excellent service to your Hispanic patients is the first step to creating referrals. To jumpstart the process further, remember these tips:
Offering opticians practical advice for effective communication with their Hispanic patients, Transitions Optical has introduced Dispensing to Your Hispanic Patients, a 20-minute bilingual education course available on DVD or in print format. This self-administered course examines ways that opticians can overcome potential communication barriers with their Hispanic patients, such as language and cultural differences.
Course content includes general information about the size and buying power of Hispanics, the role of language in reaching this population, unique cultural differences, effective rapport-builders, specific eye health needs and valuable dispensing tips for recommending Transitions® lenses. The DVD provides opticians with three additional learning resources:
Complementing the course is the Bilingual Pocket Card. Outlining common eyewear choices in English and Spanish side-by-side, the card enables eyecare professionals to guide their Hispanic patients through the eyewear selection process in the language that is most comfortable for them. Small enough to fold in half and tuck into a pocket, the card also directs Hispanic patients to the online version of Transitions Eyeglass Guide in English eyeglassguide.com or Spanish aprendasobreanteojos.com for more information.
The card is packaged with the Dispensing to Your Hispanic Patients course and was sent to approximately 5,000 eyecare professionals in the August issue of Selecciones, the Spanish-language version of Reader's Digest.
To request a complimentary copy of Dispensing to Your Hispanic Patients or the Bilingual Pocket Card, contact Transitions Optical Customer Service at (800) 848-1506.
While you are doing your part to address the needs of Hispanic patients at the individual level, Transitions is continuing its efforts to reach out to Hispanic consumers directly, helping raise awareness about the importance of preventative vision care and vision wear.
Transitions supported the National Alliance for Hispanic Health during its ˇVive Tu Vida! Get Up! Get Moving! East Los Angeles family health fair event on June 2. Transitions sponsored complimentary vision screenings during the event in partnership with JCPenney, whose Spanish-speaking eyecare professionals examined hundreds of individuals throughout the day. In addition to the screenings, the event provided the opportunity for Transitions to educate about the importance of healthy sight and UV protection.
ˇVive Tu Vida! Get Up! Get Moving! is the largest event-based program dedicated to promoting physical activity and overall health in Hispanic communities. This grassroots format is particularly effective among Hispanic communities.
One in five adult Hispanics have cataracts and half of these are visually impaired. Although the risk of cataract increases in all populations with age, the risk may be more prevalent for Hispanics. A 2005 study found that cataracts were about three times more common in Hispanic patients ages 65 to 84 years than in similarly aged white or African Americans.1
Since UV is a contributing risk factor for cataract development, and there is a higher incidence of cataracts among Hispanics, eyecare professionals should ensure that vision wear prescribed includes UV-blocking lenses. Eyecare professionals may also want to recommend wrap-around style or larger frames to maximize protection, in particular for patients whose occupations or hobbies place them outdoors for significant periods.
Of all ethnic groups, Hispanics have the lowest level of awareness when it comes to the need for UV protection for the eyes, so eyecare professionals should also take extra time to educate on the dangers of UV rays.
1 Broman, et. Al. "Cataract and Barriers to Cataract Surgery in a US Hispanic Population," Sept. 2005. 2 Mason, Robert, PhD. "Senile Cataract & N-acetylcarnosine Eye-Drops." 2003.