Our programs & projects
DEF engages in a number of community service, education, advocacy and research initiatives.
See also: Milestones
Community Services
Community connections are the heart of the Dry Eye Foundation. Everything centers around providing very real, practical support for the individuals struggling with dry eye.
Our community service programs include:
Dry Eye Helpline - a one-on-one coaching service (more than 1,000 sessions and calls since 2018)
Zoom support groups - more than 250 sessions since 2020
Facebook groups (with active moderators) - nearly 15,000 members
DryEyeZone Forums, in continual operation since 2005
Dry Eye Stories, an archive of patient stories
Dry Eye Happy Hour, a community-based webinar series during the pandemic
DryEyeZone began as a community and education portal in 2005, and eventually led to the formation of the Dry Eye Foundation.
DEZ forums have been in continuous operation since 2005, and many people still use it to look up information and trends, though active discussions have mostly shifted to DEF’s Facebook groups in recent years. The DEZ site likewise now temporarily houses a limited collection of articles which, with a library of new content being developed in 2024, will be soon be fully incorporated into the Dry Eye Foundation website, along with brand new forums and a phone app for the news and discussion forums.
Eye Drop Safety
Eye Drop Safety is a patient safety initiative created by Dry Eye Foundation in response to escalating problems with eye drops sold online.
In 2023, 4 people died and 18 were blinded by cheap eye drops sold online. Before the year was out, nearly 100 eye drops had either been recalled or were subject to various FDA warning notices. All in all, the situation rapidly became too complicated for anyone to keep track of.
We made it our priority to provide comprehensive and timely information to both patients and eye doctors. We engaged in extensive research about shady OTC eye drops sold online, including clones and counterfeits sold on common e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Walmart, and we shared all of our research with the FDA.
In 2024, we have been pleased to see significant signs of progress with reduction of unsafe eye drops online.
Program highlights:
Created resources for patients and providers at eyedropsafety.org
Created database where you can look up any over-the-counter eye drop sold in the US and find out whether there are current safety concerns or active recalls
Reported more than 300 illegally sold eye drops to the FDA
Met with 50 FDA officials to present research on unsafe eye drops sold online
Continuous online monitoring
Related DEF websites:
My Big Fat Scleral Lens (MBFSL)
MBFSL is a patient safety initiative launched by the Dry Eye Foundation in January, 2024.
Scleral lenses have become increasingly popular as a way for people with severe dry eye symptoms to improve their quality of life. But sclerals are complicated, and patients require a great deal of education and support with this treatment. There are gaps in patient care that need to be addressed.
After hosting a Facebook group for patients and providers since 2015, DEF launched an educational website with extensive resources for patients and providers in 2024.
The mission of MBFSL is to increase patient success with the complexities of scleral lenses through education, research, and strategic partnership projects with industry and the scleral lens provider community.
“Dry Eye Disease and Me”
“Dry Eye Disease and Me” is a survey created by The Dry Eye Foundation to document our community’s dry eye journey.
The survey contains more than 600 line items. 480 patients completed the entire survey. The result is an exhaustive source of information on our community’s experiences that we use to guide our programs and projects. We also offer this data to researchers and to industry so they can use this knowledge to find better ways to help dry eye patients.
Research partnerships
Dry Eye Foundation advocates for patient-centered dry eye disease research and consults on research projects. If you are interested in partnering with DEF on a patient-reported outcomes research project, please contact us.