Start the Conversation: A Free Myopia Toolkit for ECPs

Download the GMAC Myopia Awareness Toolkit for free at myopiaawareness.org/toolkit.

You've seen it happen. A seven-year-old's refraction at this year's visit is –2.00D OD/OS, up from –0.75D last year. You know what this trajectory means. You know the interventions. You know the data. Then the parent asks, "So, just a stronger prescription this time?" and you have only a few seconds to reframe everything they think they know about their child's eyesight.

That moment, the pivot from correction to conversation, is where myopia management lives or dies in most practices.

It's also the moment most ECPs say is the hardest part of the job. Not the clinical decision-making. The explaining. The persuading. Getting a parent to say yes when they've never heard the word "axial length" and aren't sure why their kid needs anything beyond new lenses.

The Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) built a free toolkit to help with exactly that.

The Conversation Gap

For most practices, the hardest part isn't deciding whether to offer myopia management to help slow the progression of myopia. According to the 2026 Eyes on Eye Care Myopia Report (n=448), about 95% of respondents believe myopia management to help slow progression should be the standard of care.¹

The hardest part is explaining risk to a parent who's never heard of progressive myopia, framing treatment options without overwhelming them, and getting to informed consent, all within the constraints of a packed schedule. In the 2026 Myopia Report, the greatest challenge in discussing myopia management with parents was justifying the costs (cited by approximately 60%), followed by explaining the risk of progression and securing their commitment. Respondents also reported that the most effective educational resource for improving conversations with parents about childhood myopia and treatment options is overwhelmingly take-home brochures (~47%), and infographics and visual aids used during exams ranked second, at about 26%.¹

The Scale of the Problem

Approximately 1 in 3 children currently have myopia.² By 2050, an estimated 4.758 billion people, roughly 49.8% of the world's population, will have myopia, with 938 million (9.8%) expected to have high myopia.³

Some parents may think that myopia isn’t an issue. After all, a pair of glasses or contact lenses should solve the problem, right?

A 1D increase in myopia is associated with a 67% increase in the prevalence of myopic maculopathy. Conversely, slowing myopia by 1D should reduce the likelihood of developing myopic maculopathy by about 40%, and this treatment benefit accrues regardless of myopia level.⁴

The risk of complications extends beyond high myopia. A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis showed that even low and moderate myopia significantly increase the likelihood of myopic macular degeneration, retinal detachment, posterior subcapsular cataract, nuclear cataract, and open-angle glaucoma.⁵

So what can be done?

The Standard of Care for Myopia Management by Optometrists by The World Council of Optometry is built around three pillars⁶:

Mitigation: educating parents on risk factors and lifestyle
Measurement: regular comprehensive exams, including measuring axial length when possible
Management: evidence-based interventions to slow progression

The resolution explicitly stated that "simply correcting the refractive error is no longer sufficient, and myopia management should not be optional."⁶

Evidence-based interventions, including specialty soft contact lenses, orthokeratology, low-dose atropine, and myopia management spectacle lenses, can slow progression, which reduces lifetime risk of high myopia and associated pathology.⁷

Where GMAC Fits In

GMAC was founded in 2019 as a coalition of leading ophthalmic companies and eye health associations with a mission to increase public awareness of childhood myopia as a treatable disease.⁸

For its first several years, GMAC focused primarily on consumer-facing awareness campaigns; however, the toolkit represents a deliberate shift from raising awareness among parents directly to equipping ECPs with the tools to have those conversations themselves — meeting the need where it actually lives: in the exam room, the waiting room, and the practice's digital presence.

In a Vision Monday press release, Olga Prenat, Global Head of Medical and Professional Affairs, EssilorLuxottica, GMAC Advisory Panel Committee Chair and GMAC Board Member, stated⁹:

What's in the Toolkit — The 12 Resources

The toolkit, available in English and French, is free to download at myopiaawareness.org/toolkit.

Category A: Patient & Parent Education Materials

These resources help parents have conversations beyond the exam room by giving families materials to take home, read, and discuss.

Myopia Management at Home (PDF): Practical guidance for parents on what they can do outside the clinic to support their child's myopia management. Covers behavioral factors like outdoor time and screen habits. Positions the parent as an active partner in the treatment plan, not a passive recipient. It also includes a daily log template to help document wear time, symptoms, time spent on near work, and comments about adherence to the management plan.
The Benefits of Outdoor Play (Infographic): A parent-friendly infographic reinforcing the evidence on outdoor time as a protective factor against myopia onset and progression. Simple, shareable, and useful for pediatric waiting rooms, school nurse partnerships, or parent handout packets.
Informed Consent for Myopia Treatment (Form): A ready-to-use consent form that standardizes how myopia treatment decisions are documented. Reduces chair-time friction by giving practitioners a structured template instead of requiring each practice to build its own. Particularly valuable for practices new to myopia management that need to formalize their consent workflow.
Myopia Risk Assessment (PDF/infographic): A visual risk assessment tool that helps parents understand whether their child is at elevated risk for myopia progression. The infographic format makes it easy to walk through during a visit or hand off for review. It can also serve as a screening prompt for staff during pediatric intake.
Why Myopia Management Matters (Brochure): A take-home brochure that frames myopia management in accessible language for parents. Useful as a standard handout during any pediatric exam where myopia is identified or suspected. Gives parents a reference point to review at home before making treatment decisions.

Category B: Digital Outreach & Social Media Content

These resources are designed for practices that want to build myopia awareness in their patient base and community but don't have the bandwidth to create social content from scratch.

Myopia Awareness & Treatment Options (Social media): Ready-to-post social media content covering what myopia is, why it matters, and available treatment options. Designed to be added to a practice's existing social calendar with minimal customization.
Monthly Series on Myopia Awareness (Social media): A month-by-month social content series that lets practices run an ongoing awareness campaign without having to plan it themselves. It provides consistency and sustained messaging rather than a one-off post.
Understanding Myopia Risk Factors (Social media): Social content that specifically targets risk factors such as genetics, lifestyle, screen time, and outdoor exposure helps practices educate parents about potential risks before their visit, easing into the conversation before the appointment.
Myopia Awareness Action Month Bundle (Email template and social media): A ready-to-use content package designed for Myopia Action Month to effectively engage parents.
Editable Email Templates (Email template): Customizable email templates enable practices to reach their patient base, especially parents of pediatric patients, to raise awareness about myopia, promote eye exams, and introduce myopia management.
KOL Social Media Posts: Myopia Management Advice for Parents (Social Media): Ready-to-use social media posts showcase eye care providers sharing expert tips on managing children's myopia. Each video offers trusted advice for parents on slowing myopia progression and works well on Facebook or Instagram. They deliver accessible, reliable guidance directly from trusted experts.

Category C: Clinical Conversation Support

This resource helps ECPs manage myopia conversations confidently and consistently, especially for practitioners new to the topic or onboarding staff.

Clinical and Counseling Strategies for Optometrists (Audio): Sample talk-tracks help eye care professionals confidently address important topics like myopia management with parents. Each includes essential talking points, sample phrases, and typical questions with suggested answers, helping you deliver a clear and consistent message.

Meredith Bishop, GMAC Board Chair, stated in a Review of Optometry interview ¹⁰:

Putting the Toolkit to Work — Practical Integration Tips

You have the toolkit, but how should you use it?

Exam Room

Use the Myopia Risk Assessment infographic as a screening conversation starter during every pediatric visit — not just when a child is already myopic, but for pre-myopic and at-risk children. The IMI 2025 Digest emphasizes that preventive management and delaying onset is critical, with each year of delay comparable to 2–3 years of treatment with current modalities.¹¹
Hand out the Why Myopia Management Matters brochure at every pediatric exam where myopia is discussed; have an open conversation about it, even if parents are not ready to commit to treatment. According to the EOE 2026 Myopia Report, one of the main reasons doctors are not offering myopia management is due to low patient volume and demand.¹ A proactive approach, such as handing parents a brochure, is an easy way to help generate that demand.
Use the Informed Consent form to standardize how you document treatment decisions—especially for practices adding myopia management for the first time and wanting a consistent workflow.

Waiting Room And Front Office

Stock printed versions of the Myopia Management at Home PDF and Benefits of Outdoor Play infographic in the waiting area. These are parent-facing and don't require clinical explanation—they prime the conversation before the exam even starts.
Train front-office staff to hand the Myopia Risk Assessment infographic to parents of pediatric patients at check-in, with a simple framing: "Dr. [Name] may want to discuss your child's myopia risk today — here's some background."

Digital Presence

Deploy the Monthly Series on Myopia Awareness as a drip campaign—schedule it at the beginning of the year and let it run. Consistent social messaging builds awareness over time, so that when a parent does come in, the conversation isn't starting from zero.
Use the Editable Email Templates to reach parents of existing pediatric patients directly. A well-timed email ahead of back-to-school season or Myopia Awareness Week can prompt parents to schedule a comprehensive exam. Note: GMAC's own parent survey data found that 88% of parents believed comprehensive eye exams weren't necessary until a child was in school — email outreach to existing patients can help correct this misconception proactively.¹²
Tie the Myopia Awareness Week Bundle to May each year as a campaign anchor — it gives the practice a reason to talk about myopia management publicly and creates a natural on-ramp for the conversation.

Team-level Integration

Designate a staff "myopia champion." This person owns the myopia management conversation and ensures the toolkit materials are stocked, the social content is scheduled, and the consent form is integrated into the practice's existing workflow.
Consider using the toolkit as a training resource for new staff or optometric technicians who need to learn how to introduce the topic to parents.

The tools are free. The evidence is clear. The gap isn't knowledge — it's action. For ECPs who've been meaning to start or strengthen their myopia management conversations with parents, this toolkit is a practical, zero-cost place to start.