Allergan Launches Glaucoma in Perspective App
Allergan has announced the launch of Glaucoma in Perspective (GiP), an app designed to help patients understand the impact of glaucoma, improve quality of life, and reduce disease progression by promoting treatment adherence.
The GiP app has been produced and funded by Allergan, with consultation from Professor David Crabb, Professor of Statistics and Vision Research, and his team at City, University of London. The City team also worked closely with Glaucoma UK, the leading charity supporting people with glaucoma to ensure that content and functionality of the app is optimized for users. The charity has offered support and guidance during the review of information and design of the app to make it accessible to a wider audience. The app now includes information about Glaucoma UK and the many ways the charity can support people with glaucoma and their loved ones.
The launch of the app coincides with World Glaucoma Week, a global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) to raise awareness of the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness.3
“If you have glaucoma, or someone you know has glaucoma, this app has been developed for you. Patient information for glaucoma suffers from being complicated, poorly presented. We think Glaucoma in Perspective offers a fresh look. We hope it will help people understand how and why their vision could worsen if they don’t adhere to treatment,” Professor Crabb said in a company news release.
In the context of COVID-19, improving quality of life has never been more important. Therefore, the app features a step-by-step guide on how to maintain a consistent treatment regimen to reduce the impact of glaucoma progression. One of the main features of the app is a series of interactive demonstrations that highlight the subtle sight loss that can occur with glaucoma, especially in the early stages of the disease. This technology encourages at-risk individuals to seek early intervention from their eye care professional by allowing them to experience the impact of glaucoma on everyday situations such as driving, cooking, walking down the stairs or shopping. In addition, users can engage with typically complex information about their condition and the treatments available via a series of novel and easily digestible animations. For example, the app incorporates visual explanations of the physiology of the eye, how eye care professional can alleviate eye pressure and an interactive demonstration of a visual field test.
Led by Professor Crabb, the development team based the interactive app on findings from their research into patients’ perception of sight loss with glaucoma.
Karen Osborn, Chief Executive of Glaucoma UK, said “The Glaucoma in Perspective App is a great tool that brings information about glaucoma to a digital audience. We’ve worked in partnership with City, University of London and Allergan to review and improve the information it contains and the design of the app, making it accessible to a wider audience. We hope that the re-launch of the app will help raise awareness of glaucoma and Glaucoma UK, so that people living with the disease and their loved ones know we are here to support them.”
Andrew Stewart, Allergan General Manager, GMCO Eyecare, commented “Glaucoma is among the leading causes of vision loss worldwide. Our commitment at Allergan is to drive positive impact and remarkable outcomes in preserving sight in the face of this eye disease. The Glaucoma in Perspective app project is an expression of that commitment and brings the best of our partnership with renowned glaucoma experts, our support of innovative technology and our strong heritage in advancing the cause of eye care.”
The Glaucoma in perspective app is now available to download for free via the App Store (IOS) and the Google Play Store (Android)
- National Eye Research Centre, ‘Glaucoma’, https://www.nercuk.org/glaucoma [Accessed February 2021]
- Glaucoma UK, ‘About Glaucoma’, https://glaucoma.uk/about-glaucoma [Accessed February 2021]
- Parihar JK. Glaucoma: The ‘Black hole’ of irreversible blindness. Med J Armed Forces India. 2016;72(1):3-4. doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2015.12.001
- Tham, Yih-Chung et al. Global prevalence of glaucoma and projections of glaucoma burden through 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Ophthalmology vol. 121,11 (2014): 2081-90. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.
- NHS. ‘Glaucoma Overview’, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/glaucoma/#overview [Accessed February 2021]