Marianne Coleman recognised for dementia-friendly eyecare

Congratulations to Dr Marianne Coleman for featuring in the Dementia Australia 25 years Research Report as a 'research superstar'.

Marianne is an Orthoptist and Clinical Vision Research Fellow working between the Department of Optometry and Vision Science and the Australian College of Optometry's National Vision Research Institute.

Marianne was recognised as one of four researchers who are paving the way to reshape the trajectory of dementia prevention and care through neuroscience, technology, and community engagement. In Marianne's "Breaking down barriers to accessing dementia-friendly eyecare" research, she aimed to remove the unique barriers faced by people living with dementia when accessing eyecare. Routine eyecare appointments are important as they can identify issues early and allow time for intervention, however there is no formal training to help optometrists adapt these tests for people living with dementia. With eyesight deteriorating with age, poor eyesight increases the risk of serious falls and can be highly debilitating. This also affects social interactions through causing individuals to feel isolated. Marianne consulted people with dementia to develop an online training platform for optometrists to deliver dementia-friendly eye tests in the hopes of helping people with dementia stay independent for longer.

The Dementia Australia Research Foundation acts to funds researchers across all stages of their career, particularly new and early career dementia researchers like Marianne. With dementia being the second leading cause of death in Australia, investing in research aims to delay, prevent and ultimately cure dementia.

To learn more, see the project outputs and project summary from Dementia Australia's Eye Health and Dementia page. Resources from this project are now available on the WHO Global Dementia Observatory's Knowledge Exchange Platform (for patients and for eyecare professionals).