World Glaucoma Week 2022 (6th-12th March)

This year, Glaucoma UK are focusing on the challenges faced to self-administer extremely important eye drops for their World Glaucoma Week Campaign 2022.  There are a lot of different eye drops for Glaucoma which work in slightly different ways, but all of them reduce pressure in the eye and in turn on the optic nerve to help preserve sight!

Glaucoma UK states that 2 in 100 people over the age of 40 will experience Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) increasing to more than 1 in 20 for people over the age of 80.  However, The World Glaucoma Association (WGA) reported in most cases “blindness” can be prevented with appropriate control and treatment.

This is a campaign close to home for the Community Team at Wilberforce Trust who assist the NHS District nurses in York to provide care and support in peoples home with a number of tasks, including the administration of eye drops.

Our Community Eye Drop Co-ordinator Kaitlin says: “Among other eye conditions, we have several clients who have Glaucoma and require support with their eye drops to make sure they are administered effectively and in time with their prescribed routine and our community support team can advise on techniques to help individuals regain their independence.”

Often it is a struggle to find or get used to a technique that suits the individual, which leaves some people unable or unmotivated to self-administer.  There are a variety of different ways to help yourself to administer eye drops.

Read more about techniques for administering eye drops here.