SPECSAVERS Home Visits teams across Scotland have taken part in new awareness raising sessions that allow them to better understand the needs of customers living with dementia ahead of Dementia Action Week (13th – 19th May).
Every Home Visit colleague across Scotland has carried out training as part of an updated Dementia Friends programme, an Alzheimer’s Society initiative changing the way people think, act and talk about dementia.
By completing the session, all Homes Visits colleagues in Scotland are now recognised Dementia Friends and have a badge to wear on their uniforms to indicate their increased level of dementia awareness to customers.
The purpose of the training is to ensure all Specsavers Home Visits colleagues in Scotland feel equipped and confident to support any customers who may have dementia.
The Home Visits team provides at-home eye tests to people who are unable to leave their home unaccompanied due to a physical or mental illness, or disability. This service is also available to those living in care homes.
Hannah Yeoman, Specsavers Home Visits partner in Aberdeen, says: ‘Being more aware of dementia is an incredibly positive development for our colleagues and our offering to customers across Scotland.
‘By becoming Dementia Friends, each and every colleague in Scotland now feels more confident to ensure any customers living with dementia feel safe and are looked after in a sensitive way. We’re always keen to go the extra mile for our customers and make sure we adapt what we do to meet their individual needs.
‘Dementia Action Week helps us to highlight the importance of regular hearing and eye tests, ensuring people know that even if they’re not able to make it to one of our stores, these services are available to absolutely everyone.’
Specsavers first signed up to Dementia Friends in 2019 and thousands of colleagues across the UK have become Dementia Friends. The updated programme, created by Alzheimer’s Society, features more interactive modules, updated information and video content, and staff will be joining over 3.4 million people in the UK who have become a Dementia Friends.
It covers all aspects of dementia and discusses how it affects people in different ways. With particular relevance to Specsavers, it also describes how senses can be affected, including sight and hearing.
People with dementia may experience problems with their sight and visual perception, which can lead to confusion and misinterpretations about the world around them. Some people living with dementia can experience hallucinations. On top of that, many people living with dementia may be wearing glasses with the wrong prescription, which can lead to increased isolation and confusion.
Across Scotland there are five regional Home Visits teams covering the breadth of Scotland from Aberdeen, Dundee and Fife to Edinburgh and Glasgow with all teams able to offer optical services and audiology offered in certain areas of the country, with more teams set to roll this service out. Specsavers Home Visits Scotland has launched a two-year partnership with Scottish Care, the representative body for independent social care services in Scotland. Specsavers will support the charity this year through to spring 2026.
For more information or to book an appointment visit www.specsavers.co.uk/home-eye-tests/request-a-free-home-visit.
