Profiles

Healthy Vision Community Awards

4Sight Blindness Prevention Program, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
The 4Sight Program will expand its outreach project targeted to West Philadelphia residents with diabetes. It will collaborate with social services agencies in conducting comprehensive vision screening services and facilitating eye exams.

Beloit Area Community Health Center, Beloit, WI
The Beloit Area Community Health Center will conduct educational sessions with patients who have diabetes and provide information for uninsured patients to receive annual dilated eye exams. The Center is collaborating with the local Lions club and the Beloit Clinic.

Cambridge Health Alliance, Department of Community Affairs, Somerville, MA
This project will be targeted to low-income older adults and racial/ethnic populations as well as people with diabetes. Messages will emphasize the increased risk of eye disease in racial/ethnic groups and how to access free screening services.

Columbus Regional Healthcare System Inc., Columbus, GA
Columbus Regional Healthcare will train and supervise professionals to screen children and adolescents. The project will include the development and implementation of plans for health services for children with special vision needs.

Community Health Coalition, Inc., Durham, NC
The Coalition seeks to increase screening for glaucoma, cataract, and diabetic retinopathy among African Americans over the age of 40. The coalition will provide followup and assess the long-term effects of compliance and noncompliance.

Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services, Dallas, TX
African Americans aged 20 to 70 will be screened for glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and cataract. Screenings will take place in various churches around the area. Opportunities for followup evaluation and treatment will be provided.

Hill Health Corporation, New Haven, CT
The project will focus on examining and improving the existing delivery system of eye care services for people with diabetes, raising provider and patient awareness regarding dilated eye examinations and risk factors for retinopathy, and increasing patients' use of dilated eye exams.

Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Optometry, San Juan, Puerto Rico
This project will train teachers and school nurses to identify children's visual problems, and inform Parents and community members about the importance of vision screenings and examinations, signs and symptoms of vision problems, and available primary eye care resources.

Knox County Health Department, Galesburg, IL
The Department will offer community education programs to individuals with type 2 diabetes, people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, and people who have family members with type 2 diabetes. People who complete the educational programs will be eligible to receive a free eye exam, if they meet income guidelines.

KU HealthPartners, Inc., Kansas City, KS
KU HealthPartners will screen children and adolescents in day care and afterschool settings and provide educational materials. A Vision Health Fair will be held to educate children, adolescents, and families on the importance of visual health and ongoing screening.

Lions Club of Madelia, Madelia, MN
A closed-circuit television system will be placed in a community library, and education and networking for people with low vision will be provided through the Minnesota State Services for the Blind. Low-vision devices will be displayed in the offices of local eye care professionals.

Louisiana Eye Health Educational Institute, Port Allen, LA
To improve eye health among older Louisiana residents and to decrease the dilated eye exam disparity existing in the African American population with diabetes. The Institute will offer "Faith in Wellness" eye health fairs at faith-based venues.

Massachusetts Association for the Blind, VISION Community Services, Brookline, MA
The Visually Impaired Elders Project will provide a short-term in-home rehabilitation program for seniors who are isolated in their homes because of vision loss. Educational outreach will be conducted at churches, meal sites, senior housing centers, schools, elder service agencies, and community agencies serving targeted ethnic communities.

Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD
This project will identify children with possible visual impairments enrolled in non-public schools and link those needing further evaluation and/or glasses to providers by replicating a pilot vision screening program.

New England Eye Institute, Boston, MA
The Institute will implement and evaluate a direct outreach and patient education effort to increase the use of eye care services at selected community health centers. The project will educate residents of inner-city neighborhoods in Boston at high risk for vision problems about the importance of preventive care eye exams and will expedite access to care at local centers.

Ohio Optometric Association, Worthington, OH
The Association will examine the current compliance rates of patients with diabetes receiving annual dilated eye exams among optometrist groups; develop a targeted diabetes health education and promotion program, and increase patient compliance.

Prevent Blindness North Carolina, Raleigh, NC
Prevent Blindness North Carolina will train and certify high school health occupation students in the early detection and prevention of correctable vision problems. These students will help screen underserved, at-risk children in grades K-6 in impoverished school systems in North Carolina.

Prevent Blindness Ohio, Columbus, OH
Ohio's Vision…Awaken to the Challenge, a statewide symposium, will convene legislators and representatives of State government, eye care associations, social service agencies, and nonprofit organizations serving seniors for a day of learning and future planning. Collaborations will be formed to continue work in preparing for the future vision needs of Ohio's aging population.

Rural Women's Health Project, Gainesville, FL
The project ¡OJO! con tu vista [Take Care With Your Sight] Part II-Visual Prevention Resources for Diverse Farmworker Communities will develop materials in Spanish, English, and Haitian Creole, on eye injury prevention and the use of protective eyewear.

Silver City Lions Club, Silver City, NM
This project will screen preschool and K-3 elementary students in Grant County, NM. Collaborators are the El Grito Head Start Program, the Silver Consolidated Schools, the Cobre Consolidated Schools, and the Bayard Lions Club.

St. Mary's Mercy Medical Center, Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Grand Rapids, MI
The Center will implement processes to increase the number of Hispanics with diabetes who receive annual dilated eye exams. Culturally sensitive marketing efforts in Spanish will be developed and delivered, and Hispanic outreach lay persons will be educated to raise patient awareness of the importance of dilated eye exams for Hispanic persons with diabetes.

St. Vincent de Paul Village, Inc., San Diego, CA
This project will raise awareness and understanding among homeless and uninsured people with diabetes about the importance of annual dilated eye exams, controlling blood sugar levels, and managing other risk factors. Health educators will conduct group and one-on-one sessions.

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Department of Health, Providence, RI
The project will create awareness of the need for dilated eye exams among persons with diabetes, particularly those who are Hispanic/Latino. Culturally, linguistically, and educationally appropriate messages will be disseminated via radio, brochures, and billboards.

Times Community Services, Baltimore Times Foundation, Baltimore, MD
In partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Eye Disease Institute for Health Disparities and a local optical company, this community-based foundation will develop Focus on Eyes, an innovative telemedicine project targeted to African Americans.

Mile Square Health Center, Chicago, IL
The Center will focus on adults with diabetes in the catchment area of the Health Center, located on Chicago's west side. This program will help detect diabetic retinopathy and make appropriate referral for follow-up and treatment.

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Ophthalmology, San Antonio, TX
The Low Vision Screening, Referral, and Education Program will conduct initial vision screenings at senior and community centers, nutrition centers, and churches in predominantly Hispanic and African American communities. Information about eye disease, preventable vision loss, vision impairment, vision rehabilitation, and community resources will be provided.

Voices for Children in Nebraska, Omaha, NE
This organization will sponsor a targeted education campaign on vision screening for children from birth to 5 years. Parents, early childhood providers, and medical providers will be reached through radio and television public service announcements, training materials, and workshops.

Wald Community Nursing Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
The Center will increase vision health education, screening, and followup care in high-risk groups through the VisionTEST (Targeted Education, Screening, and Treatment) program. Staff will use an array of educational curricula and teaching methods and materials to reach a diverse age range of preschool through adolescent populations.

Watson Center, Largo, FL
Through informational talks and public presentations, the project will educate the public about the capabilities of people with visual impairment and the benefits of rehabilitative services. Information will cover the need for regular eye exams for children and adults, how to live with a visual impairment, and how to help someone who faces the challenges of visual impairment.

Whittier Street Health Center, Roxbury MA
Whittier will implement outreach, education, referral, and followup services to reach African American and Hispanic adults who are at high risk for developing visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataract. The Center will distribute culturally and linguistically appropriate materials about the need for annual eye exams as well as risk factors and symptoms of eye health problems.

Wright State University, Miamo Valley College of Nursing and Health, Dayton, OH
The University will develop televised broadcast lessons on Healthy Vision 2010 objectives for direct broadcast to students in grades K-6 and for local access cable. Lesson plans will be given to teachers, and information will be provided for local newspapers and school newsletters. A CD-ROM with the lesson plans, video presentations, and materials will be sent to school nurses.

West Virginia University Extension Service, Morgantown, WV
The Service will develop a curriculum-based module that can be used in a variety of settings throughout West Virginia. The module will include lecture notes, handouts, overheads, and a PowerPoint presentation on diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, and cataract.