Successful travel grant for dementia-friendly eyecare

Congratulations to Marianne Coleman for her travel grant 'Helping dementia-friendly eyecare to happen everywhere'.

Dr Marianne Coleman, Clinical Vision Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and the Australian College of Optometry's National Vision Research Institute, has been awarded a $15,000 Travel Grant by Dementia Australia Research Foundation in their 2023 Dementia Grants Round.

Marianne has been working with the University of Melbourne's Research Innovation and Commercialisation team to develop a licensing framework for the dementia-friendly eyecare training course, to support its adoption by optometry CPD providers in other countries with optometry-led primary eye care models. This travel grant will help Marianne's research to have international impact, opening up future opportunities for optometrists across the world to upskill in dementia-friendly eye care and empowering optometrists globally to provide the best person-centered care to patients.

Marianne will be travelling to Europe with Dementia Advocate, Natalie Ive, in April, to jointly present at the Alzheimer's Disease International Conference in Krakow, Poland. Marianne and Natalie will present to an international dementia care, policy and research audience, on the development of a world-first training course about dementia-friendly eyecare for optometrists. The conference abstract was co-written with, and reviewed by, all the Dementia Advocates involved in Marianne's project. Marianne will also share her research in presentations at three UK optometry schools (Plymouth, Ulster and Glasgow Caledonian Universities), to reach educators and the next generation of eyecare professionals in optometry, orthoptics and dispensing.