Supporting Eye Health of Rural New Zealanders

Rural communities may face a higher risk of Macular Degeneration (MD). According to the Rural Health Network’s 2024 Snapshot, 20% of the rural population is over 65 years of age (compared to 14% in urban centres).

People living rurally are more likely to be regular or ex-smokers. These two risk factors – age and smoking, coupled with reduced access to healthcare services – make early intervention through awareness and education of MD all the more important.

To reach as many rural people as possible, MDNZ hosted a stand at the Fieldays 2024 Health and Wellbeing Hub. Fieldays is the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere and around 20,000 people visited the Health and Wellbeing Hub over four days.

At the MDNZ stand, we offered free OCT scans and an optometrist or ophthalmologist was present to talk about any concerns. The scan allowed us to have conversations about eye health and to encourage people to follow up with a comprehensive eye check with their optometrist.

While parents had their eyes scanned, children played hand/eye coordination games with glasses simulating vision loss from Macular Degeneration. The key takeaway for those that visited our stand was to have regular eye checks.

This was our first year at Fieldays and it was a massive undertaking. We are incredibly grateful to Carl Zeiss NZ for the use of an OCT machine and to Hamilton Eye Clinic whose technicians and ophthalmologists scanned and reviewed 146 people over the 4 days. Thank you also to Simon Rose and Nelson Retter for helping out.

People who engaged with our stand shared their thoughts on their experience:

“The friendly staff made the experience relaxing and informative.”

“The opportunity to have a quick test there and then, followed by an educational assessment of the results. Bravo!”