Are your patients ready to embrace change?

We kick off this year with a special focus on the ageing eye - presbyopia. As with all surgical procedures, we highlight the importance of patient communication here. Indeed, some specialists believe that effective communication could yield a practice with a near 100% patient satisfaction record. We have tried our best to cover this diverse and complex area of research, but I'm sure that the best is yet to come. As the year unfolds, I imagine we will be seeing the treatment of presbyopia evolve significantly as the pace of research and development looks set to step up a gear.

Going back to the subject of communication, I was talking with my grandmother over the Christmas break about her progress since she had undergone cataract surgery two months earlier. Now, I admit that English is not her first language and my spoken Greek is far from perfect but, with the help of my trusted translator (my Mother), I asked her how she felt following her surgery. She said that she felt fine but didn't understand why her vision was now blurred with her current prescription of spectacles. When I asked her to remove her spectacles and look at the television, I asked her if she could see better. She confirmed that she could but she insisted on keeping her spectacles on as she was afraid of "developing a headache".

I'd like to thank you for joining us at the beginning of what I'm sure will be another great year.

Fedra Pavlou Editorfpavlou@advanstar.com