It’s Healthy Vision Month!

National Eye Institute Eye Health Connection banner featuring a smiling adult wearing glasses, a patient getting eye care from an eye care provider, and an optician holding up an adjustable trial frame.

May 2024

Dear NEHEP Partners,

May is Healthy Vision Month! This year, we’re spreading the word about the connection between vision loss and mental health, social isolation, and loneliness. Vision loss can have a major impact on every part of life — and the challenges and stigma associated with a visual impairment can be isolating. What’s more, the United States is facing an epidemic of loneliness, with half of adults reporting that they feel lonely.

This Healthy Vision Month, we’re doing what we can to change that, like dedicating this Eye Health Connection newsletter to sharing vision loss and mental health resources you can use in your practice and share with your community. From toolkits for providers to social support for people with a visual impairment, we’ve got you covered. Thank you for helping us shine a light on this important topic!

Best,

Maria Zacharias

Acting Director, National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP)

National Eye Institute

Promote Healthy Vision Month

Our Healthy Vision Month website features a wide array of resources for people with a visual impairment — like information about vision rehabilitation services and tools to help make meaningful connections. You’ll also find inspiring messages from Christine Ha, blind chef and winner of MasterChef season 3.

Explore the website

NEI Healthy Vision Month: Reframe your future. An adult with a visual impairment and a friend walk through a park on a nice day. Each friend holds an end of a tether.

Help people with a visual impairment connect

Hadley’s Peer to Peer program connects people with a visual impairment to gain new perspectives, problem-solve together, and support and learn from each other.

Share the program

A health care provider sitting and reviewing health information with a patient in the patient’s home.

Build skills for working with adults with vision loss

The National Council on Aging and VisionServe Alliance collaborated to create a toolkit for providers: Enhancing Your Work with Adults with Vision Loss. It’s got tools to help you better understand vision loss and common eye conditions — plus useful tips for working with adults with vision loss, like blindness etiquette.

Access the toolkit

2 illustrated health care providers putting together puzzle pieces to make a human head.

Get highlights from the Prevent Blindness Mental Health Task Force

This interprofessional group of patients and providers explored how vision loss can affect mental well-being and what strategies can help safeguard it. Prevent Blindness’s brief summarizes key takeaways from the task force’s discussions on barriers, process improvements, and action steps, as well as helpful resources.

Read the brief

Calendar of Events

AOA and AOSA Optometry’s Meeting event graphic with a photo collage of conference attendees. Text reads: “Harmonizing Our Vision: Nashville, TN, June 19 to 22, 2024. Registration is now open.”

Attend Optometry’s Meeting®

The 127th Annual American Optometric Association Congress and 56th Annual American Optometric Student Association Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® is happening June 19 to 22 in Nashville, TN. This meeting offers optometric continuing education and professional development, as well as opportunities to network with industry professionals and leading optometrists.

Other Events and Resources

May 17 to 18: The American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma will host Eye Trauma 2024 — its annual meeting and wet lab — in Houston, TX.

June 28 to 29: The Glaucoma Research Foundation will host the 6th Annual Glaucoma Patient Summit in Philadelphia, PA.

Resource: The American Printing House for the Blind published Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults and Their Relationship to Vision Loss with data about loneliness and tips for staying connected.

Resource: BrightFocus Foundation recorded the January Macular Chat, which featured an expert-led discussion about the emotional impact of age-related macular degeneration — as well as specialists, coping strategies, and resources.

Resource: The National Institute of Mental Health offers Chronic Illness and Mental Health: Recognizing and Treating Depression with tips and information for patients and providers.

Resource: The National Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision’s Lessons for Living with Vision Loss cover helpful information, guidance, and strategies for living life with vision loss.

Resource: The Big Data Project reports from VisionServe Alliance, the Aging and Vision Loss National Coalition, and The Ohio State University College of Optometry provide comprehensive data about adults with visual impairment at the national, state, and county levels.

The Eye Health Connection is a newsletter developed with the input of NEHEP Partners and shared with the community of NEHEP’s 60+ partner organizations. The links are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only, they do not constitute an endorsement by the National Eye Institute or its employees.

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