With thanks to community support, patients at Sydney Eye Hospital are receiving vital education about their prescribed eyedrop therapies. It’s all about collaborative care, with patients gaining greater understanding about the importance of correctly administering medicines at home.
Dr Ridia Lim
The Sydney Eyedrop Project includes two core initiatives to help patients, the Sydney Eyedrop chart and the Sydney Eyedrop app.
The Sydney Eyedrop chart is a simple visual aid that every patient receives at the end of a consultation or at the end of their hospital stay. Their treatment program is mapped out on the chart with bold graphics so that the dosage and frequency of each medication prescribed is clear.
The Sydney Eyedrop app is a vision-friendly application developed in multiple languages for smart devices (think mobile phones and tablets). User-friendly functions such as how-to graphics, videos, calendars and alarms will help patients stick to their ophthalmic eye medication.
The entire project was initiated by Dr Duri Kim, who knew how vital it could be in helping patients.
“The Sydney Eyedrop chart and the app will guide our patients in their eye journey by providing a simple and easy-to-understand print that they can keep and carry to use as a reminder every day,” says Dr Kim.
“This will not only enhance our communication but also improve patients’ experience and promote their eye health,” she says.
For Linda Fagan, Chief Executive of Sydney Eye Hospital Foundation, funding the Sydney Eyedrop Program was “a no-brainer”.
“The answer to excellence in patient care is collaborative,” says Ms Fagan.
“Patients have the benefit of receiving state-of-the-art treatment while at Sydney Eye Hospital, but when they go home, treatment is in their hands. This program ensures they have the tools they need,” Ms Fagan says.
Medications for eye conditions mostly come in the form of eyedrops. For the treatment to be successful, the drops must reach the patient’s eyes at the dosage and time prescribed.
Despite the development of effective modern therapies, a major challenge remains; patients aren’t always compliant or consistent with administering their eyedrops at home.
According to Dr Ridia Lim, Head of Glaucoma Unit at Sydney Eye Hospital, this is a global issue.
“This is not a dilemma unique to patients of Sydney Eye Hospital. An international research study estimated that between 23% - 60% of glaucoma patients are reported to be not take their drops or not take them properly,” says Dr Lim.
“To be effective, it is important that treatment is taken exactly as the doctor prescribed. Treatment that is not taken as directed is not effective in treating diseases such as glaucoma. This includes timing, dosing and not missing eyedrops. Long term, taking your drops properly (adherence) is important in maintaining your vision and quality of life,” Dr Lim says.
Download the Sydney Eyedrop app on the Apple App Store
Sydney Eyedrop is a notification app designed to help patients remember their eyedrops. All eyedrop plans can be set up to include reminders of: drug names, which eye(s), frequency and duration, as well as tailored times of the day. The drug database is derived from another application developed by Sydney Eye Hospital, the Sydney Eye Hospital Pharmacopoeia. You can search for medications by the generic or trade drug name, or by manually entering a name. You can find and save your treatments and record treatment notes. This application is designed for the general public to promote ophthalmic medication adherence by providing notifications to take the eye medications according to the advice of their medical practitioners. It is not intended for any other use.
