List of Articles: Communication Training in Optometry #EMCA #communication #skills

One outcome of our research project on the practical work of optometrists have been publications in professional magazines. The short articles concerned with matters related to communication between optometrist and patient contain a few ideas on the quality of communication in optometry.

Webb, Helena, and Dirk vom Lehn. 2011. ‘Eye Contact and Gaze in Optometry Consultations’. Optometry Today!.

Webb, Helena, Dirk vom Lehn, Bruce J. W. Evans, and Peter Allen. 2014. ‘Communication: Part 1 – Soliciting Information from the Patient’. Optometry Today! 54: 52–54.

Webb, Helena, Dirk vom Lehn, Bruce J. W. Evans, and Peter Allen. ‘Communication: Part 2 – Delivering Findings and Advice to the Patient’. Optometry Today! 54 (2014): 48–51.

Webb, Helena, and Peter M. Allen. 2015. ‘Effective Practitioner-Patient Communication in Domiciliary Eye Care Visits’. The Optician.

Communication in Optometry (video)

The video is related to research undertaken by sociologists at King’s Business School and Optometrists (Dirk vom Lehn, Helena Webb, and Christian Heath – members of the WIT group), at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (Peter Allen) and City University, London (Bruce Evans) and in collaboration with the College of Optometrists. Save for academic publications on the opening interview, the far and distant vision tests, and some aspects of training in optometry, we also engaged with practitioners through publications in practitioner magazines like Optometry Today! and The Optician and developed an online module on communication skills that is available to members of the College of Optometrists. The video relates to some of the outcomes of our research for practitioners.

PHD STUDENTSHIP – WORK, INTERACTION & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP, KING’S BUSINESS SCHOOL – COMMUNICATION IN OPTOMETRY BEFORE AND AFTER COVID-19 #OPTOMETRY #SOCIOLOGY #STUDENTSHIP

The changing role of the optometrist in assessing eye-sight and eye health during and after Covid-19

King’s Business School have a 4 year, fully funded PhD studentship (fees and stipend) available to undertake research concerned with communication and interaction in remote optometry consultations. The successful candidate will be expected to undertake qualitative, in-depth, studies of the organisation of eye examinations undertaken via telephone, video-phone, etc. Their research will relate to previous video-based studies of communication and interaction undertaken by the supervisory team. 

The successful candidate will be a member of the Work, Interaction & Technology Research Group at King’s Business School. Members of the WIT Group are concerned with social interaction in organisational settings, examining the interplay between social interaction and technology. Candidates will undertake naturalistic studies of communication and interaction in optometry that draw on ethnographic and video-based research methods. They will have a social science background and have received training in qualitative research methods, including ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, ethnography, qualitative interviewing and grounded theory.

The PhD project will be undertaken in collaboration with the College of Optometrists and co-supervised by Professor Dirk vom Lehn (KCL) and Professor Peter Allen (Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge). It, therefore, provides candidates with the opportunity to develop a distinctive approach to their research.

The successful candidate will begin in October 2021.

For further information, please contact Professor Dirk vom Lehn at dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk

Application Information 

Early applications are encouraged. Applicants are strongly advised to contact the supervisor Professor Dirk vom Lehn at dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk

Please submit the following to kbs-phd@kcl.ac.uk by the 31^st of July 5pm. 

1. Copy of your CV
2. One academic reference letter
3. Letter of interest (1-2 page) including how you would be a best fit for the project.  

Note – applicants must check that they meet our entry requirements prior to applying

You should hold, or be completing, a Master’s degree with a Merit or higher (or overseas equivalent) and have achieved a 2:1 Bachelor’s degree (or overseas equivalent) in a relevant subject.

English language requirements

If you are a native English speaker or have been awarded a degree within the last five years from one of the countries listed here, you may not be required to take an English language test. English language competency is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

If your first language is not English you must be able to provide recent evidence that your spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programmes for which you have applied. Check our English language requirements here (Band B). You can use our pre-sessional English calculator to check if your language scores meet our requirements.

Please note, we cannot review individual eligibility before you apply and are only able to consider complete applications which include all supporting documents.

Application Procedure 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview and the successful candidate will be asked to submit their formal application via King’s Apply online system. 

Please contact kbs-phd@kcl.ac.uk if you have any queries regarding the application procedure.

New Online Course on Communication Skills in Optometry #optometry #training #communication

The College of Optometrists has recently launched a new online course on communication skills in optometry, “Eye examinations: improve your skills” (C-70016). The course, open only to members of the College of Optometrists, is aimed at newly qualified members and those returning to work. It will take participants through the stages of an eye examination and look at ways to improve communication skills. One non-interactive CET point is available and communication and standards of practice competencies are covered.

Good communication can increase patient confidence in your knowledge and skills and result in greater patient satisfaction. It can also lead to more accurate test results and improved compliance with treatment plans. 

In this course you will cover the key stages of the eye examination:

·         meeting the patient

·         understanding patients’ concerns 

·         carrying out clinical tests 

·         delivering findings

·         ensuring patient compliance 

·         patient-centred care.

Activities are followed by hints and tips sections on open and closed questions and active listening.

This course is based on the results of research projects undertaken by King’s College London, the Institute of Education and the College of Optometrists from 2009 onwards. The projects investigated how optometrists conduct eye examinations and how their findings were communicated to patients.

Publications from the projects can be found HERE.

A description of the Knowledge Transfer Project funded by the ESRc and the College of Optometrists can be found HERE.

 

Communication Skills in Optometry (free material)

A few years ago the College of Optometrists has published Communication Skills material for optometry that is based on our joint ESRC funded Knowledge Exchange Project (2013-14).

The material can be accessed on this website.

 

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I just came across an interesting article titled “A Visual History Of Eyeglasses” in FastCompany that you might find interesting http://flip.it/1QJ1sh

http://flip.it/1QJ1sh

BBC News: Dyslexia not linked to eyesight, says study #optometry

A study publicised via the BBC News website sheds doubt on previous research arguing that coloured filters placed over black and white reading material can help some people with dyslexia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32836733

Are you interested in Communication and Optometric Practice? #guidelines #CET #sociology #optometry cc @esrc

from the website of the College of Optometrists

The practical work of the optometrist 2: communication skills in optometry

In 2009, an ESRC funded project ‘Assessing Eye Sight and Ocular Health: The Practical work of optometrists’ was undertaken to investigate how optometrists conduct eye examinations and how their findings were communicated to patients.  The project involved a detailed study of the practices of eye care in the UK and revealed the interactional practices that optometrists rely on to assess clients’ state of sight and eye health.

Following on from this, The practical work of the optometrist 2 was a Knowledge Exchange project that used the findings of the original study to create a communication skills information for optometry students, optometric practitioners, trainers and organisations.

Project outputs

The project produced the following materials, which will be of interest to those wishing to look at how communication affects optometric practice.

The material can be downloaded here.

Distance Vision Test in Practice

The Distance Vision Test with its letter chart at the centre, probably is most emblematic of optometric consultations. It involves a client sitting on a chair who encouraged by the optometrist reads lines of letters from a standardised chart. At the end of the test, the optometrist uses the reading performance of the client to determine an initial score for her or his ability to see in the distance. The score often is the starting point for a later test, the Subjective Refraction, that we have written about previously.

Despite the pervasiveness of the Distance Vision Test little is known of the interaction between optometrist and client that leads to the determining of the test score. We have analysed video-recordings of Distance Vision Tests and reveal the professional skill and competence that optometrist use to arrive at the test score. This skill and competence involves in particular a sensitivity to changes in clients’ reading behaviour. The related paper on this has been published (in English) in a Special Issue of the German sociology journal Soziale Welt. It can be found here.