Acuminder now available on Facebook

By Carly Kuppe
Western Herald

The Acuminder application is now available as a complimentary service to Facebook users.
Acuminder is a free online tool that was introduced last year to help with contact lens compliance and eye health.  Now, Facebook users can add the application to receive reminder messages and alerts in their Facebook newsfeed.

“Feedback has been very positive,” Vistakon employee Gary Esterow said.

Vistakon is the manufacturer of Acuvue contact lenses and the creators of Acuminder.

According to the applications site on Facebook, it has 206 monthly active users. Vistakon, which has it’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., is a division under the Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.

The Acuminder application can also remind users of more than just appointments, such as work deadlines, taking daily medications and social events.

“I haven’t gotten an eye exam in a long time, but if I were more on top of my eye care then I definitely would use [the application],” Michael Blackmond, a junior at WMU said.

“I have enough trouble keeping track of my appointments,” Blake Thorne, a senior at WMU said.  “Facebook would clutter things.”

Doctors and contact lens manufacturers provide care instructions for wearing lenses, but only 46 percent of lens wearers always replace their lenses in accordance with their recommended schedules, according to an American Attitudes and Perceptions about Vision Care survey.

“More than 15,000 people have signed up for Acuminder,” Esterow said.

According to the Acuminder’s application site, the application is only available in the United States.
Acuminder users self report they are becoming more compliant with their contact lens behavior, according to a January 2008 survey.  The average number of days that contact lens wearers changed their lenses decreased from 19 days to 15 days.

Acuminder is also available to non-Facebook users at acuminder.com.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 25 2008. Filed under Nation, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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