Optometry Australia (OA) has released its 20-year vision for optometry in Australia. Optometry 2040 taking control of your future, saying the 20-year agenda aims to create a plausible, sustainable future for optometry and primary eye health care and will be used to drive reform in government policy, regulation and education.
It says by 2040 clinical eye care, the practice of optometry and the way consumers collaborate in their health care decision making will be very different from today, with change being driven by demographic, technological, economic, government, and societal forces. Practice models, working conditions, clinician training requirements, patient eye care and communications need to evolve too, it says, stressing that the optometry sector must adapt to create a future in which optometry remains a valuable health care profession improving population eye health.
OA says the document was developed after extensive collaboration with members, stakeholders and key sector influencers throughout Australia.
The top trends shaping optometry’s future as highlighted in Optometry 2040 are:
- Consistently evolving technology
including artificial intelligence, mobile and wearable devices. - Evolving scope of practice
to ensure the highly skilled optometry workforce are used more effectively to meet community need. - Consumer-centric care
with high consumer participation, facilitated by digital communication. - Big data driving decision-making
which can improve efficiency and productivity at both a system and practice level. - Alternative models of funding
with a need for new approaches potentially drawing on multiple sources. - Changing demographics of the workforce
the Australian optometry workforce is growing quickly, becoming more female and younger. - Changing social demographics
with an ageing population and escalating rates of chronic disease.
