Today's digitized workforce is spending more time on electronicdevices than ever before—during work hours, at home, and evenduring breaks. Employees' eyes are feeling the impact, and workersare increasingly concerned about vision protection.

The 2016 Transitions Optical “Employee Perceptions of VisionBenefits” survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, polled more than1,000 part-time and full-time employees. Eight in 10 employees saythey want more light protection in their eyewear. Some of thisdemand is likely being driven by the buzz around blue light. Themedia coverage about how the blue light from our digital devicescan impact everything from quality sleep to digital eyestrain hasgained a foothold in the public consciousness.

We're in the early stages of growing consumer demand for bluelight protection, and brokers and employers are well positioned tobe part of the conversation. Benefit administrators and brokers whounderstand the importance of increasing vision benefit enrollment andencouraging more regular visits with an optometrist should viewthis as an opportunity to connect with members through a trendingtopic.

Now is the time to enlighten employers and their employees abouta growing health problem while offering a practical solutionthrough a benefit already on the market—managed vision care.One-third of employees are unsure whether their current lensesprovide protection from harmful blue light; but by all indications,making the link between lenses covered under a vision plan available through theiremployer and blue light protection is a topic theywould tune in to.

Improving Blue Light EyeQ

According to The Vision Council, 65 percent of Americans reportexperiencing common symptoms of digital eyestrain, including neckand back pain, headache, blurred vision, and dry eyes. Only afraction of those with symptoms link the effects with the cause orunderstand the role of blue light in what they are experiencing.Even Americans who know the connection between digital devices andeyestrain rarely understand that blue light is present in nature aswell as in technology, so protective measures are as valuable topeople who work outdoors as to employees who spend much of theirday in front of a digital screen.

Digital eyestrain is irritating, painful and a productivitykiller—no question. Blue light is a likely contributor, especiallyoutdoors, as blue light from the sun scatters through theatmosphere and can cause glare, resulting in visual discomfort andfatigue. The sun, in fact, emits more than 100 times the intensityof electronic devices and screens, and, depending on time of day,25 percent to 30 percent of outdoor light is blue light. So,education about blue light protection should address blockageoutdoors as well as in.

Highlighting Eyewear That Offers Blue LightProtection

When explaining the need for blue light protection to employees,providing concrete examples of what's available in their benefitsis critical to driving enrollment and satisfaction. Some of mygo-to examples include the following:

• Transitions® lenses, covered through all of the top managedvision care plans, filter harmful blue light while blocking 100percent of UV radiation. Indoors, the lenses filter harmful bluelight emitted by artificial sources such as digital devices and LEDlights. Outdoors, the lenses activate and darken to help provideeven more protection from harmful blue light, intense glare and UVrays from the sun.

• Other lens options that help address blue light include Eyezen+, Essilor Smart Blue Filter, Blu Tech, and CoppertonePolarized.

There are also anti-reflective coatings, including CrizalPrevencia, Zeiss DuraVision Blue Protect, and Hoya Recharge. Ninetypercent of employees polled in the Transitions Optical surveybelieve a vision plan is more competitive if it covers premium lensbrands. A 2012 survey found an equal percentage agree it isimportant for their vision plan to include the latest lenstechnologies. Ensuring employers fully understand how their planswork and what's covered will have a significant impact on employeesatisfaction with their vision offering.

A Growing Need

The blue light discussion will continue to grow louder. Digitaldevice use is on the rise among millennials (who will make up halfthe workforce by 2020) and Generation Z (the first truly digitalnatives, already making up 20 million of the global workforce andanticipated to be 25 million by 2017). Their lives areintrinsically intertwined with their phones and computers, at workand in leisure time. Just look at the ready adoption oftelemedicine by these segments of the population as well as theirinfluence on our personal habits and vocabulary—they aren't theonly ones binge watching television or using the term.

A significant portion of the workforce is also raising childrenwhose exposure to blue light is even more acute. A study by theKaiser Family Foundation found that children ages eight to 18 spendan average of 7.5 hours a day on a digital device.

In addition to digital strain, which causes a drop inproductivity and interferes with visual acuity in people whosevision is otherwise fine, excess exposure to harmful blue light hasbeen linked to macular degeneration, one of the most serious anddevastating vision diseases. Macular degeneration is the leadingcause of vision loss in adults over the age of 50, according to theNational Eye Institute, and is currently incurable. Those withmacular degeneration struggle with reading, driving a car,recognizing faces and colors, and the fine details of objects. Dueto an aging population, scientists project that incidents ofmacular degeneration will soar to 6.3 million by 2030—epidemicproportions. The impact of blue light is expected to swell thenumbers of Americans with the disease beyond what we would expectto see in a population with more older people, and to increase theincidence in people younger than age 50.

Since we're not going to work less, convince schools not to usethe latest technology for engaging students, or abandon smartphonesany time soon, it is important to recommend and provide educationabout vision benefits that can help finance the products in themarket today. For instance, plans designed to cover the latest lensand coating technology sooner, as well as to make options that havebeen available longer more affordable to members who prioritizeblue light protection. Moreover, blue light protection and blockinghave been standard features of certain lenses for decades. Accessto technology like this is one of the factors I consider whendeciding which benefit plan to recommend to a client.