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November, 2014
Children's Vision Massachusetts is a coalition representing optometry, ophthalmology, nursing, pediatrics, public health and families. Its mission is to create a systematic approach to children's vision care that assures that all children develop and retain their best possible vision.
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 | Stacy Lyons, OD, Catherine Johnson, OD, Rosa Oquendo, Health Manager with Eyes that Thrive children
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VISIONARIES
Spotlight on Success
Boston Head Start Health Managers Rosa Oquendo and Bernarda Duverge have been instrumental in the implementation and ongoing success of the Eyes that Thrive in School program at ABCD Head Start Programs in East Boston, Roxbury and the South End. With the goal of supporting school based care of vision treatment plans, Eyes that Thrive in School was developed by coalition partners Prevent Blindness, New England College of Optometry, and ABCD Head Start with funding from the American Optometric Association. The program supports collaboration and commitment between families, eye doctors, school nurses/health managers, educators and primary care providers. Program components include Vision Action Plans, Education Cards, Two Pair (Eyeglasses) and Treatment Trackers. The pilot program resulted in a high level of compliance with prescribed vision treatment plans during the school day, which resulted in policy change at all ABCD Head Start sites to support the visual health of children enrolled in the programs. See Video Here! |
End of Year Donation to Children's Vision Massachusetts
Please help to improve the vision and eye health of children in Massachusetts by making a secure, online contribution to the coalition today. Go to childrensvisionmassachusetts.org and click on Donate Now link which is located above the coalition logo on the landing page. Gifts will be directed to Prevent Blindness and held in a dedicated fund used only to support the work of the Children's Vision Massachusetts coalition. Major goals of the coalition are: (1) to develop a cohesive system for pediatric vision screening and care that links families, primary care providers, schools and eye doctors to improve vision health and learning (2) Launch community education campaigns to build awareness of the importance of vision screening, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care for children (3) Create a public health system for children's vision to assure that all children referred to an eye doctor through screening and assessment have the benefit of that care, including access to ongoing treatment. All gifts are tax deductible.
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Awards
Jean Ramsey, MD, MPH, Sandy Block, OD, and Kay Nottingham Chaplin, Ed.D, were awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the Prevent Blindness 2014 Annual Meeting for their contributions to the Year of Children's Vision (2013-2014), National Head Start Association. The Year of Children's Vision provided national guidance to staff of Head Start and early childhood programs to standardize approaches to vision screening, improve follow-up for eye care for children not passing vision screening, provide family friendly educational information, and create opportunity for participants to consult with pediatric eye care providers to ensure best practices around children's vision and eye health. For more information on the Year of Children's Vision click here!
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Legislative News US Congressman Joe Kennedy III visited the New England College of Optometry On-Sight Mobile Clinic at the Citizens for Citizens Head Start in Fall River to discuss the importance of early detection and treatment of vision conditions in children and the need for federal funding to support systems and services to improve the vision health of children locally and nationally.
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In the News
The Children's Vision MA Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program, Healthy Eyes Healthy Futures Massachusetts, is featured in the latest HRSA newsletter in the Grantee Spotlight section. See Article Here!
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Presentations Bonnie Strickland, PhD; Eva Marie Stahl, PhD; Joe Touschner, MPP; Bruce Moore, OD, The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Eye Care, American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting; November, 2014, Denver, CO Karen Smith, Massachusetts Child Health Quality Coalition, Kathy Majzoub, Children's Vision Massachusetts, Michele Merritt, New Futures, New Hampshire, Improving the Quality of Pediatric Care: How Coordination, Screening, and Prevention Can Support Children's Health, New England Alliance Children's Health Care Summit; November, 2014, Nashua, NH
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 Continuing Education
Free MIT online course on the Neuroscience of Vision- Starts November 18th Light, Spike, and Sight: The Neuroscience of Vision A journey through the eye, retina and brain, revealing how light translates into nerve signals that encode the visual world. Watch Course Intro Here!
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