December, 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.

VISIONARIES
Spotlight on Success

Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc, located in Springfield, MA, is a full Public Health Institute Member of the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). The nonprofit organization is committed to improving the public's health by fostering innovation, leveraging resources, and building partnerships across sectors, including government agencies, communities, the health care delivery system, media, and academia. In 2012, PHC convened an innovative initiative called Live Well Springfield ~ KIDS (LWS ~ KIDS) Visit Website Here! 

A collective effort of public health and health care providers, health insurers, early child care and education providers, public sector social service and human service providers, and parents to fashion an "empowerment association." Recognizing that vision health disparities in preschool children are a problem that must be addressed through methods that will impact children and their families, the LWS~KIDS Design Team decided in early 2014 that its first intervention would be a comprehensive early vision screening and care program; now known as EyeSEE (early Screening, Education and Exams). EyeSEE seeks to improve the vision of preschool children through prevention education, comprehensive vision treatment, and community based action planning. EyeSEE partners are Live Well Springfield-KIDS, Children's Vision Massachusetts, MA Dept. Early Education and Care, Lions District 33Y and Prevent Blindness. Congratulations to Joan Lowbridge-Sisley for her success in representing and advancing the mission of Children's Vision Massachusetts in western Massachusetts.

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 used 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.

Awards

Jacqueline Su-yuo, a third year student at the New England College of Optometry,
has been awarded a Schweitzer Fellowship to address the visual health of 5-13 year-olds participating in the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center's Red Oak After School Program. She intends to establish a self-sustainable program to train and certify faculty and volunteers to perform vision screenings for children enrolled in the program. In addition, Su-yuo aims to help create a centralized database to aid in the follow-through and education of children who require additional care. Ultimately, her goal is to improve the accessibility of screenings and to empower the Boston Chinatown community to take a proactive approach in ensuring the visual health of their children. Children's Vision Massachusetts has been a resource to Jacqueline as she has launched this project.

 


  

In the News 

The Boston Globe recently published an article reporting on how City Connects supports students by linking them to the health and wellness services they need to come to school ready to learn and thrive. Included prominently in the news story is the collaboration with New England Eye On-Sight Mobile Clinic with quotes from Pediatric Program Director Paulette Tattersall and Dr. Bruce Moore about the value of school based eye care for children, the importance of communication amongst school staff to support on-going treatment, and more information about the clinic's Two-Pair Program which provides a second pair of glasses for children to support healthy vision development and best correction for children during school hours. Learn More About the Mobile Clinic Here!                                              

 

Presentations  

 

Louis Vernacchio, MD, MSc; Jonathan Modest, MPH; Emily Trudell, MPH; Kathy Majzoub, RN, MBA; Glenn Focht, MD; Jean Santangelo, RN, BSN Improving Annual Vision Screening Rates Across a Pediatric Primary Care Network; Poster; Institute for Health Care Improvement National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, December, 2014, Orlando, FL

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Open Eyes. Open Doors.

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