Digital health boost as new website focuses on dry eye disease, which currently affects one in four people across the UK
A new patient-friendly educational site dedicated to eyecare has launched in the UK, featuring medically reviewed articles, seasonal blog posts, expert tips from healthcare professionals and tools to help patients to self-manage their eye health.
The site was developed by leading the specialist ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, Santen.
Kim Levy, digital lead for OcuWellness at Santen UK, commented: “While OcuWellness focuses on dry eye at the moment – an extremely common condition which our research shows has worsened for many people over the pandemic – this is just the beginning and we plan to add many other areas of eyecare education over the coming year and beyond.”
The website is currently focused on dry eye disease, which affects one out of four people in the UK. The site shares important information including symptoms, when to see a healthcare professional, how to avoid triggers with lifestyle changes, the impact of eye surgery and various treatment options.
Kim Levy said: “Creating trusted online sources for healthcare information has never been more important and as a leading specialist with more than 130 years in ophthalmology, we’re able to create content that is high quality, in-depth and fact-checked. Our aim is that OcuWellness will help people better self-care for their eyes and become a valuable tool for healthcare professionals too. “
“Throughout the pandemic we’ve seen that people are more reluctant to use healthcare services including the pharmacist – sometimes due to fears of infection but also because it’s now less convenient as we’re all travelling less,” said Sam Little, dry eye and allergy marketing manager at Santen UK.
She added: “That obviously has a knock-on effect on treatment compliance and healthcare outcomes. Going the extra mile to add a shop function to OcuWellness seemed like a natural step to improve access to treatment.”
