A Chat with Anat

My guest for this special episode is Peter Holland, Chief Executive of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). We speak about the importance of World Sight Day, and discuss how different initiatives, such as the Love Your Eyes campaign, have helped put eye health on the global agenda in collaboration with members and partners.

We also highlight how clinicians can leverage their voices and influence to share knowledge, shape policies, and strengthen cross-sector collaborations, leading to the development of important resources for patients and clinicians to improve care. We recommend visiting the IAPB’s website, and the websites of the nAMD Barometer Program and Vision Academy for more information on World Sight Day, and resources to help you in your clinic.

If you enjoyed this episode, SUBSCRIBE to ‘A Chat with Anat’ to make sure you never miss an episode!

Speaker disclosures:

Professor Anat Loewenstein
Consultant: AbbVie, Bayer, Beyeonics, Syneos, Ripple, Iveric Bio, Johnson & Johnson, Ocuphire, Iqvia, Notal Vision, Novartis, and Roche.

Peter Holland
Employee: International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.
Further information on topics discussed in this podcast:

Child eye health. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. https://www.iapb.org/learn/vision-atlas/magnitude-and-projections/child-eye-health/. Accessed October 9, 2024.

October 2024 PP-PFM-OPHT-ALL-0042-1

This podcast series is intended for HCPs, and is not intended for UK audiences.

This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise.
The Barometer Program is managed by clinical leaders in ophthalmology as well as representatives from the IFA, IAPB and Bayer. The activities of the Barometer Program are funded and facilitated by Bayer where the scientists and representatives from IFA and IAPB retain decision authority to the research scope, methods, analysis of findings, and dissemination of the outputs of the Barometer Program.

The Vision Academy is a group of over 100 international experts who, through their collective expertise, provide consensus guidance for managing clinically challenging situations, especially in areas of controversy or with insufficient conclusive evidence. The Vision Academy is funded and facilitated by Bayer. The opinions and guidance of the Vision Academy outputs are those of its members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bayer.

My guest for this episode is Professor Tariq Aslam, Professor of Ophthalmology and Interface Technologies at the University of Manchester and a Consultant Ophthalmologist specializing in the management of retinal disease.
In this episode, Professor Aslam and I chat about how important it is to consider anxiety and depression when managing our patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Our conversation covers the quick yet effective measures that Professor Aslam has implemented in his own clinic to identify patients with anxiety and depression, with tips for our listeners on how to do the same in their own busy clinics.
We also discuss how patients with anxiety and depression can be supported and referred for treatment by ensuring we, as ophthalmologists, focus on the patient and not just the retinal disease or its treatment.
If you enjoyed this episode, please listen to past episodes in the series to hear retinal experts explore how patients’ emotions, experiences, and perceptions can influence their treatment adherence and persistence, ways to engage and empower our patients, and the evolution of patient expectations in nAMD through the 21st century.
SUBSCRIBE to ‘A Chat with Anat’ to never miss an episode!
If you want to know more about the Barometer Program’s efforts towards patient-focused care in nAMD, visit our website: https://www.amdbarometer.org/
Further information on other studies mentioned in this episode:
POPPIES study: Senra et al., Experience of anti-VEGF treatment and clinical levels of depression and anxiety in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol.; https://www.ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(17)30108-3/fulltext
Cimarolli et al., Anxiety and depression in patients with advanced macular degeneration: current perspectives. Clin Ophthalmol.; https://www.dovepress.com/anxiety-and-depression-in-patients-with-advanced-macular-degeneration--peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTH
Sivaprasad et al., Impact of injection therapy on retinal patients with diabetic macular edema or retinal vein occlusion. Clin Ophthalmol.; https://www.dovepress.com/impact-of-injection-therapy-on-retinal-patients-with-diabetic-macular--peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OPTH
Weinstein et al., Anxiety in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmic Epidemiol.;

This podcast series is intended for HCPs, and is not intended for UK audiences.

This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise.
The Barometer Program is managed by clinical leaders in ophthalmology as well as representatives from the IFA, IAPB and Bayer. The activities of the Barometer Program are funded and facilitated by Bayer where the scientists and representatives from IFA and IAPB retain decision authority to the research scope, methods, analysis of findings, and dissemination of the outputs of the Barometer Program.

The Vision Academy is a group of over 100 international experts who, through their collective expertise, provide consensus guidance for managing clinically challenging situations, especially in areas of controversy or with insufficient conclusive evidence. The Vision Academy is funded and facilitated by Bayer. The opinions and guidance of the Vision Academy outputs are those of its members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bayer.

My guest for this episode is Professor Richard Gale, Professor of Ophthalmology at Hull York Medical School, University of York, UK, and Honorary Consultant Medical Ophthalmologist at the National Health Service’s York Teaching Hospital.
In this episode, Richard and I will chat about how patients’ emotions, experiences, and perceptions related to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment can influence their treatment adherence and persistence. Despite this, the patient’s perspective is often not considered during the clinical management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. To tackle this issue, Richard gives us some of his top tips to try in our busy clinics.
We discuss a systematic literature review article recently published in Acta Ophthalmologica, which was authored by a group of international experts including Richard and myself. Find out more here: https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.15201
If you enjoyed this episode, go back and listen to our first episode with Richard, where we chat about how to further motivate our patients to be adherent, or try some of the past episodes to hear other retinal experts delve into ways to engage and empower our patients, and explore a history of patient expectations in nAMD through the 21st century.
SUBSCRIBE to ‘A Chat with Anat’ to never miss an episode!
If you want to know more about the Barometer Program’s efforts towards patient-focused care in nAMD, visit our website: https://www.amdbarometer.org/
Further information on other studies mentioned in this episode:
ANCHOR study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2008.10.018
MARINA study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2006.10.045
Prevalence and risk factors for depressive symptoms in patients with nAMD; Australian study: https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.14635
This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise. This is not intended for UK audiences.
This is not intended for UK audiences.
Speaker disclosures:
Professor Anat Loewenstein
Consultancy, Research grants: Allergan, Bayer, Beyeonics Surgical, KHB, Novartis, Notal Vision, Oculis, Oxurion, Pres-By, Roche, Sensor, WebMD, Xbrane
Professor Richard Gale:
Consultancy, Research Grants: Alimera, Allergan, Bayer, Novartis, Roche

This podcast series is intended for HCPs, and is not intended for UK audiences.

This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise.
The Barometer Program is managed by clinical leaders in ophthalmology as well as representatives from the IFA, IAPB and Bayer. The activities of the Barometer Program are funded and facilitated by Bayer where the scientists and representatives from IFA and IAPB retain decision authority to the research scope, methods, analysis of findings, and dissemination of the outputs of the Barometer Program.

The Vision Academy is a group of over 100 international experts who, through their collective expertise, provide consensus guidance for managing clinically challenging situations, especially in areas of controversy or with insufficient conclusive evidence. The Vision Academy is funded and facilitated by Bayer. The opinions and guidance of the Vision Academy outputs are those of its members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bayer.

My guest for this episode is Professor Paul Mitchell, Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Sydney, Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Western Sydney Local Health District, and Principal of Sydney West Retina Pty Ltd in Australia.
As treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) has evolved through the 21st century, so have the expectations of our patients. Paul joins me to chat about how developments in treatment modalities and regimens led to the evolution of patient expectations following diagnosis of nAMD, and what we can expect for our patients in the future.
If you enjoyed this episode, try some of our past episodes to hear other retinal experts delve into ways in which we can engage and empower our patients, how to further motivate our patients to be adherent, and how clinic organization can be used to improve adherence and persistence.
SUBSCRIBE to ‘A Chat with Anat’ to never miss an episode!
If you want to know more about the Barometer Program’s efforts towards patient-focused care in nAMD, visit our website: https://www.amdbarometer.org/
Further information on studies mentioned in this episode:
Blue Mountains Eye study (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(95)30846-9)
MARINA study (https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa054481)
ANCHOR study (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2008.10.018)
LUCAS study (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2014.07.041)
ALTAIR study (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-020-01236-x)
ARIES study (https://doi.org/10.1097/IAE.0000000000003128)
HOME study (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2014.02.003)
Algorithm for suspending anti-VEGF treatment in cases of futility (https://doi.org/10.1097/IAE.0000000000002713)
June 2024 MA-PFM-OPHT-ALL-0938-1
This is not intended for UK audiences.
Speaker disclosures:
Professor Anat Loewenstein
Consultancy, Research grants: Allergan, Bayer, Beyeonics Surgical, KHB, Novartis, Notal Vision, Oculis, Oxurion, Pres-By, Roche, Sensor, WebMD, Xbrane

Professor Paul Mitchell
Consultancy: Allergan, Bayer, and Novartis

This podcast series is intended for HCPs, and is not intended for UK audiences.

This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise.
The Barometer Program is managed by clinical leaders in ophthalmology as well as representatives from the IFA, IAPB and Bayer. The activities of the Barometer Program are funded and facilitated by Bayer where the scientists and representatives from IFA and IAPB retain decision authority to the research scope, methods, analysis of findings, and dissemination of the outputs of the Barometer Program.

The Vision Academy is a group of over 100 international experts who, through their collective expertise, provide consensus guidance for managing clinically challenging situations, especially in areas of controversy or with insufficient conclusive evidence. The Vision Academy is funded and facilitated by Bayer. The opinions and guidance of the Vision Academy outputs are those of its members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bayer.

My guest for this special episode recorded live at the 15th Annual Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology (COPHy) is Professor Tariq Aslam, Professor of Ophthalmology and Interface Technologies at University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
In this episode, Tariq and I discuss whether the introduction of next generation therapies for the clinical management of retinal diseases will open the door to a new era for patients and clinicians.
We also consider how learnings from the Barometer Global Survey surrounding the multiple challenges associated with management of retinal diseases can be implemented into clinical practice, and touch on how we can best support our patients to achieve extended treatment intervals.
If you want to know more about the Barometer Program’s Global Survey, or the Barometer’s efforts towards patient-focused care, visit our website: https://www.amdbarometer.org/. Also on the website are important materials resources to help you in your clinical practice (such as communication guides and educational materials) and to help your patients (such as information packs for patients to give to their employers).
If you enjoyed this episode, please listen to past episodes in this series to hear retinal experts discussing how to choose the optimal anti-VEGF therapy regimen for patients with retinal vascular diseases, how patients’ emotions, experiences, and perceptions can influence their treatment adherence and persistence, and how we as ophthalmologists can both understand and help patients with the burden of treatment.
SUBSCRIBE to ‘A Chat with Anat’ to never miss an episode!
Further information on content in other podcasts in this series can be found at: https://www.amdbarometer.org/resources
This podcast was produced in association with the Vision Academy; viewpoints on clinically challenging situations, educational slide decks, video content and other materials, can be found at the Vision Academy, https://www.visionacademy.org/. Always refer to local treatment guidelines and relevant prescribing information. Please review the appropriate product information before prescribing.
Speaker disclosures:
Professor Anat Loewenstein
Consultancy: Allergan, Annexon, Bayer, Beyeonics, Biogen, ForSight Labs, Iqvia, Iveric Bio, Johnson & Johnson, MJHEvents, Nanoretina, Notal Vision, Novartis, Ocuphire Pharma, Ocuterra, Ophtimedrx, Ripple Therapeutics, Roche, Syneos, WebMD, and Xbrane.
Professor Tariq Aslam
Grants/Speaker fees: Bayer, Canon, Heidelberg, Novartis, and Roche.
June 2024 PP-PF-OPHT-ALL-0163-1

This podcast series is intended for HCPs, and is not intended for UK audiences.

This podcast series is produced and funded by Bayer. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, based on their clinical experience and expertise.
The Barometer Program is managed by clinical leaders in ophthalmology as well as representatives from the IFA, IAPB and Bayer. The activities of the Barometer Program are funded and facilitated by Bayer where the scientists and representatives from IFA and IAPB retain decision authority to the research scope, methods, analysis of findings, and dissemination of the outputs of the Barometer Program.

The Vision Academy is a group of over 100 international experts who, through their collective expertise, provide consensus guidance for managing clinically challenging situations, especially in areas of controversy or with insufficient conclusive evidence. The Vision Academy is funded and facilitated by Bayer. The opinions and guidance of the Vision Academy outputs are those of its members and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bayer.