NEW TRANSITIONS RESEARCH SHOWS HOW MORE ECPS CAN MEET THE NEEDS OF THEIR DIVERSE PATIENT BASE
While the vast majority of eyecare professionals (96 percent) say they serve culturally diverse patients, far too few are taking steps to actively meet their needs, according to new research supported by Transitions Optical. The survey, which was conducted in March, revealed that two-thirds of eyecare professionals do not use bilingual or in-language resources; half do not employ a diverse or bilingual staff; and three-fourths do not participate in community outreach activities targeting ethnic populations. All of these efforts are important to culturally diverse consumers and can even be a differentiator in an eyecare professional’s ability to attract and retain diverse patients, according to separate consumer research supported by Transitions Optical.
Employing a diverse staff makes a difference to culturally diverse patients—with more than two-thirds of Hispanics and Asian-Americans, and three-fourths of African-Americans agreeing that the best eyecare practices include staff from a mix of races and ethnicities. Additionally, more than four out of 10 Americans believe that an eyecare professional of the same race or ethnicity will better understand them. Despite this, just 53 percent of eyecare professionals reported employing a diverse staff, and 49 percent said they employed at least one bilingual team member.
“The great interest in multicultural resources is encouraging and has led us to believe that many eyecare professionals simply may not be aware that these tools do exist, or may not know where to find them,” says Manuel Solis, marketing manager, trade and strategic retail accounts, Transitions Optical. “The survey reinforced that eyecare professionals have several materials on their wish list— including brochures and information about eye health and lens options in other languages, bilingual reading cards and staff training/education. Transitions Optical makes all of these resources available free-of-charge through mymulticulturaltoolkit.com. We hope that by reinforcing the need for these types of materials and the opportunity to those who use them will encourage more eyecare professionals to take advantage.”
COPPERTONE POLARIZED LENSES SWEEPSTAKES WINNER EARNS VEGAS TRIP
Vision-Ease Lens is sending Jessica Grosvenor of Waynesville, Mo. and a guest to meet U.S. soccer legend Mia Hamm during Vision Expo West in Las Vegas this month.
Registration for the sweepstakes ran May 28 to July 17. Winners were drawn from a pool of 20,740 unique registrations eager to meet Hamm.
“We wanted Coppertone Polarized Lenses to make a splash with consumers this year and raise awareness of our brand ambassador, Mia Hamm,” says Jay Lusignan, marketing communications manager for Vision-Ease Lens. “We promoted the event via social media and eyecare locations, pairing the opportunity to meet Mia with messaging around the eye health benefits of premium polarized lenses.”
As the grand-prize winner, Grosvenor earned a meet and greet with Mia Hamm, airfare for two, three nights double-occupancy hotel accommodations, transportation and a prepaid credit card for dining and entertainment. The package is valued at $4,000. The following prizes were also awarded:
•One first-place prize of a Mia Hamm autographed soccer ball: Brian Haslip of Greene, Maine.
•One second-place prize of a Mia Hamm autographed soccer jersey: Catherine Foreman of Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada.
•Five third-place prizes of a Mia Hamm autographed print: Sonya Allstun of Dexter, Mo.; Lauren Arney of St. Petersburg, Fla.; Linda Firth of Hillsboro, Ore.; Elisa Lowe of Forsyth, Ga.; and Anna McLean of Wildwood, N.J.
Hamm’s endorsement of Coppertone Polarized Lenses began this spring, as Vision-Ease Lens reinvested in its Coppertone Polarized Lenses brand. In addition to the sweepstakes materials, Hamm is prominently featured on all consumer-facing brand materials and a video for Coppertone Polarized Lenses available to all retail partners.
—Andrew Karp
