Education

EDUCATION Learning during lockdown

In this article, Pauline Bradford explains how the CooperVision Learning Academy is supporting online skill building during isolation

Learning Academy project manager, Pauline Bradford

With many optical practices forced to unexpectedly close their doors due to Covid-19, CooperVision recently took the decision to bring forward the launch date of its new eLearning platform, the CooperVision Learning Academy, to support members of the contact lens profession during this time.

With an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on business and plan for the future, there has never been a better time for practitioners and staff to invest in building their skills and knowledge.

ACCESS FOR ALL, ANY TIME The free-to-access site, available at academy.coopervision.co.uk, hosts a variety of online training courses aimed at developing the communication, clinical and technical skills of clinical and retail staff in optical practices across the UK and Ireland.

Providing open access for all, the content is available to members of the profession who are not customers of CooperVision at the moment or who don’t have access to their account number from home. Locums and students are also able to access the site, in addition to employed practitioners and business owners.

The Learning Academy initially launched with eight different training topics to reflect the best retail practice, latest clinical knowledge, and clinical practice across the contact lens profession. Training topics included: the selection of the right contact lenses for your customers; communication tips; contact lens prescribing and aftercare; and improvement of the customer experience in business.

The major benefit of online learning is that it can be accessed by most devices, with or without sound, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help inform and develop knowledge at a time that suits the user.

Each module only takes around 10 minutes to complete, allowing training to fit perfectly into anyone’s busy schedule. Users are simply required to create a learning account to help track progress as they work through the modules on each course.

Covid-19 is having a significant impact on the profession right now. It’s always important to develop professionally and even more so now, to put this unexpected spare time to good use to improve and learn new skills along with boosting staff morale. We’re pleased that we can offer access to valuable training content to the wider optical community.

SELF-ISOLATION? SELF-EDUCATION Whilst the current situation is an unnerving period of change for everyone, time away from the daily routine is also an opportunity for self development, to improve expertise and focus on the future. The platform is designed to help upskill the whole practice team and, therefore, features modules designed for both clinical and non-clinical

Professor James Wolffsohn kicked off the series

staff. When an online account is created, users can select their role in order to be shown the appropriate modules.

As well as giving users a refresher on their contact lens knowledge, they can also review the way contact lenses are communicated within the practice setting in order to make the most of the business opportunity they present.

Many practitioners have recently become more aware of the true value of their contact lens business by receiving an income that continues even when the doors are closed. Hopefully when doors are able to be reopened, this will help practices get back into a strong and sustainable business position whilst at the same time meeting the needs of more patients.

INTERACTIVE TRAINING A major benefit of the site is the ability to take part in interactive webinars covering both CET-accredited sessions and retail business topics. Targeted at eyecare professionals, business owners and support staff, the sessions aim to support professional development through covering

a range of subjects and speakers from both inside and outside the optical profession and industry.

Since launch, the Learning Academy has welcomed more than 7,000 attendees to its webinars with independent optometrists representing the majority of attendees, and more than 1,000 registrations for the Learning Academy content.

Professor James Wolffsohn, professor of optometry at Aston University, presented the first CET webinar entitled, ‘Covid-19 and contact lenses. What eyecare professionals should know’, with more than 2,000 registrations and an excellent attendance rate of 75 per cent. Indie Grewal, British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) president elect, optometrist and independent practice owner, followed with his CET webinar, ‘First steps in myopia management’. In the most recent CET webinar, ‘Are we listening carefully?’, professional services consultant and CLO, Samantha Armstrong, focused on the importance of effective communications with patients surrounding contact lens wear.

The webinar series continued with a business session featuring independent practice owner and past BCLA president, Brian Tompkins, entitled, ‘The future of contact lens practice after Covid19. How to ensure resilience in optical retailing’. Importantly, this session also featured Dr Helen Eng, Dr Helen Eng shared her a practitioner experience of exiting lockdown from Hong Kong, sharing her experience in optical practice coming out of lockdown.

This was shortly followed by a CET session entitled, ‘Kids in contacts’, with clinical expert and CLO, Wendy Sethi. When asked about the benefits of the Learning Academy, Wendy said: “During this challenging time it’s great to have a training platform to reach so many practitioners, engaging them in aspects of optics that there isn’t always time to think about when clinics are busy.”

Live recordings of all these webinars are now available on the CooperVision Learning Academy platform, and all future webinar recordings will be available as soon as possible after each event, with CETaccreditation where relevant. Like the eLearning site itself, the launch of the webinar service was expedited by CooperVision in order to provide additional support to practitioners and their support staff during the temporary closure of practices.

Optometrist and head of professional services, Krupa Patel, commented: “It’s great to be able to offer richer and even more interactive content to ECPs and support staff during these unprecedented times. The interest and attendance for our live-streamed webinars to date has been outstanding, and I am thrilled that CooperVision UK and Ireland is able to support at this time. I am pleased to announce that online education will continue, and I hope we will be joined by many more eyecare professionals over the weeks to come.”

TAILORED ADVICE FOR MYOPIA MANAGEMENT In addition to the online training courses and scheduled webinars, users of the eLearning platform can also book one-toone sessions with Indie Grewal or Wendy Sethi, who are on hand to offer invaluable advice on myopia management and how to provide this service to patients. Six-person peer discussion workshops on myopia management are also on offer for three CET points. These CET-accredited workshops are planned for Wednesdays and Thursdays and can be booked via the Learning Academy.

CONTACT LENS EDUCATION MOVING FORWARDS When looking to the future, our plans for the Learning Academy are evolving in order to adapt to the constant changes happening, offering more practical advice to support customers as they look to reopen in the new circumstances. Details of our next webinar are available now along

Online delivery will be key going forwards

with a selection of online, discussion-based CET sessions which are ready to book through the Learning Academy. We have also partnered with the Association of Optometrists to further expand our CET range, and future events will be published on the Learning Academy site as more speakers are confirmed.

Krupa said: “We’re committed to developing the Learning Academy to be a valuable ongoing tool that flexibly caters to the needs of all users. Feedback is really important to us so if anyone has thoughts on topics they would be interested in seeing covered, or speakers they would like to hear from, then please reach out to us via the site.

“Online delivery is a key driver for CooperVision’s education strategy going forwards and we are already exploring different topics and session formats,” Krupa continued. “One example of this is our launch of online peer discussion and discussion workshops over the coming weeks. Through the use of virtual breakout rooms, we will be able to deliver a discussion-based, interactive CET event from the comfort of your own home.

“It’s really exciting. The past few weeks have been challenging for many reasons, but it has brought an opportunity for many to focus on their development and build new skills. We’re very proud to be able to offer this educational support to our professional colleagues now and also in the future.”

To access the CooperVision Learning Academy’s free online education for you and your colleagues, and to sign up for future webinars, visit

https://academy.coopervision.co.uk

Pauline Bradford FBDO CL FBCLA is professional services consultant and Learning Academy Project Manager at CooperVision UK.