AUGUST 2024

The Impact of Screening & Eye Care

• Want to ensure your students receive an evidence-based vision screening?
• Want to learn strategies for helping families get their child to an eye examination?

August is a great time to complete our national Prevent Blindness Children's Vision Screening Certification Course. Each learner completes 8 or 9 online self-paced modules that take a total of 3 to 5 hours to complete, depending on the learner. We also provide one-on-one mentoring during the training process and discuss tips for successful follow-up to care when children are referred. After successfully completing the course, learners receive a national 3-year certificate and 5 contact hours for professional development. Discounted rates begin with groups of 10 learners. For more information, contact P. Kay Nottingham Chaplin, EdD, at nottingham@preventblindness.org or visit the course website.

Remember, some children will eagerly return to school, while others will struggle with learning. A vision disorder, such as blurred vision, may interfere with optimal learning and peer relationship development. Check out the information and handouts for parents and caregivers in the Small Steps for Big Vision: An Eye Health Information Tool Kit for Parents and Caregivers, including the factsheet “Association Between Vision and Learning” (English, Spanish). You can share this fact sheet with parents and caregivers.

Children’s Vision Digital Screen Time Tips, in English and Spanish

Diabetes + Your Eyes: Vision Health for Youth, in English and Spanish

Help preschool teachers “Think of Vision” so they recognize signs of vision problems they may see in the classroom, along with a brief overview of common eye problems in children- in English and Spanish.

Help grade school teachers “Think of Vision” with fact sheets in English and Spanish.

The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness partners with the National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety of the Office of Head Start to educate early childhood personnel and families about the importance of vision and eye health. We’re excited to announce several new vision and eye health resources to help young children have their best possible vision and provide resources to Head Start and other early childhood education and care professionals.

You’ll find several vision and eye health resources on the ECLKC website, including:

1.   Watch the “Emerging Eye Health Issues in Young Children” webinar hosted by the Office of Head Start’s National Center for Health, Behavioral Health and Safety featuring Donna Fishman, director of the NCCVEH; Elise B. Ciner, OD, FAAO, Professor of Optometry, Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University; and Fuensanta A. Vera-Diaz, PhD, OD, Associate Professor of Optometry, New England College of Optometry, and volunteer on the Prevent Blindness Scientific Committee, who provided information on myopia prevention.

2.   Why is vision screening important? Visit Vision Screening for Young Children for more information. Learn about screening infants during the first year of life and Signs of Possible Vision Problems in Children (both linked from the ECLKC webpage on Vision Screening for Young Children). Learn about screening the vision of toddlers ages 1 and 2 years.

3.   It is important to refer children for eye care if they do not pass a vision screening or if they have signs of a possible vision problem. Learn more about eye care referrals.

4.   Eye safety in childcare settings should always be a priority. Learn about eye safety for young children with this resource: Preventing and Responding to Eye Injuries. Did you know that most eye injuries are preventable, but that eye injuries are the most common cause of permanent vision loss in young children under age 5 years? Keep your center safe with this section of the ECLKC eye injuries webpage: Preventing Eye Injuries.  

By: Olivia Pincus, MPH Candidate, NCCVEH Intern

The July 2024 Focus on Eye Health Summit Being Seen and Heard, hosted a roundtable session, titled Seeing and Hearing Children’s Vision Needs, where experts discussed the need for robust policies around children’s vision and eye health services. Moderated by Phil Goglas II, MPAP, Managing Partner at Health and Medicine Council LLC, the session featured insights from Karen Woodhouse, Director of Eyes on Learning, Shanyn A. Toulouse DNP, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN, Northeast Regional School Nurse Consultant for Haverhill Public Schools, and Sara D. Brown, MPA, Director of Government Affairs at Prevent Blindness.

Karen highlighted Arizona's progress since the formation of the Eyes on Learning Coalition in 2016. Despite the lack of state and federal funding, the coalition has relied on philanthropic partners and businesses. Arizona recently passed a law requiring vision screening in schools, set to begin this school year. The coalition also developed a surveillance system using Medicaid claim data and a data dashboard to guide decision-making. Additionally, they transformed the vision screeners' certification system into a free, accessible online platform.

Shanyn shared the success of updated vision screening guidelines in Massachusetts that were implemented with support from the Children’s Vision Massachusetts Coalition. An educational website and training sessions across the state were developed to support school nurses. Despite these efforts, equitable access to care remains a challenge, particularly in rural areas and among families affected by social determinants of health. Shanyn emphasized the need for a statewide tracking system to ensure children who fail screenings receive necessary care.

The goal of the EDVI Act is to ensure that every child with a possible vision problem is identified and connected to appropriate eye care. The EDVI Act will provide states and communities with grant funding to improve, update, and modernize state and community approaches to children’s vision and eye health and integrate it into ongoing programs and systems of care that already address other aspects of children’s physical, behavioral, and sensory health in places such as early learning or school- and community-based health settings. The EDVI Act also allows for technical assistance for states and communities to access evidence-based guidelines to addressing children’s vision and eye health while also making resources available to the public. Finally, the EDVI Act also fosters collaboration between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education to ensure that children’s vision and eye health is integrated into ongoing programs and interventions where children’s vision and eye health has a natural fit (such as in school-based health initiatives like Head Start and others) and to foster research efforts at the National Eye Institute. EDVI has bipartisan support and will provide grants to states, will offer technical assistance, and ensures federal agency coordination. 

Join us in supporting the passage of the EDVI Act by contacting your members of Congress. Take action today.

Find state fact sheets on vision screening and eye care here.

80+ organizations support EDVI. Add your organization to the growing list!

Help us celebrate 15 years of providing you guidance to care for children's vision and eye health and make your gift today!

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