BCLA webinar to explore the changing landscape of paediatric contact lens prescribing

The BCLA is set to host a new webinar examining the evolving role of contact lenses in paediatric eye care and myopia management.

Taking place from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday, 14 July, the free session –

Kids, Contacts, and Control: The New Era of Paediatric Lens Prescribing – will be delivered by optometrist and researcher Dr Sophie Coverdale.

Open to both members and non-members, the webinar is worth one CPD point and will provide eye care professionals with an evidence-based overview of current UK attitudes and behaviours surrounding paediatric contact lens prescribing.

With myopia management continuing to reshape clinical practice, increasing numbers of practitioners are assessing the role of contact lenses in younger patients. During the session, Dr Coverdale will present findings from a UK-wide survey exploring how prescribing patterns and professional attitudes towards fitting contact lenses in children and young people are changing in real-world practice.

She said: “The webinar will examine whether practitioners are becoming more confident in fitting children with contact lenses, how perceptions of risk and benefit have shifted, and the differences in prescribing behaviours between optometrists and contact lens opticians.”

Attendees will also explore the growing importance of patient-centred outcomes, safety considerations and functional benefits when prescribing contact lenses for under-18s.

The session has been designed to support practitioners in reflecting on their own prescribing behaviours while applying the latest UK evidence to inform clinical decision-making in paediatric contact lens fitting and myopia management.

Dr Coverdale is an Assistant Professor in Optometry at the University of Bradford and completed her PhD in 2025. Her research focuses on myopia management, contact lens practice and the delivery of eyecare services, with a particular interest in patient-centred qualitative research and evidence-based clinical decision-making. She is also actively involved in undergraduate optometry teaching and is a member of both the British & Irish University and College Contact Lens Educators (BUCCLE) and the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE).

To register for the webinar, or to find out more about BCLA membership, visit www.bcla.org.uk