The Chicago Public School (CPS) system designed the Healthy Kids-Healthy Minds (HK-HM) program to identify students who were in need of basic health care yet were not covered by insurance or public assistance or did not have the financial ability to pay for services and therefore were not receiving appropriate health care. Through the HK-HM program, CPS found health care providers who would serve the children at minimum or no cost. The HK-HM program provided vision exams and glasses, dental care, hearing exams and hearing aids, and counseling services. In order to qualify for vision care under HK-HM, the CPS conducted their routine vision screenings in the fall of 1998. School nurses identified those students who failed the vision screening and did not have access or the ability to pay for services. Over nine hundred eligible children received comprehensive eye exams including dilation at the Illinois Eye Institute at no cost during the period of January 1, 1999 through November 1, 1999. Marchon, in collaboration with the Illinois Eye Institute, fabricated spectacles at the cost of $25.00 per pair. CPS covered the expense of the glasses. Eighty percent of a child's learning is felt to be through the visual system. One of the goals of the HK-HM program is to correct visual problems, thereby allowing students to have a better opportunity to reach their maximum potential and fully participate in and benefit from their educational experiences in the Chicago Public School system.
Learning Objectives: Healthy Kids-Healthy Minds (HK-HM) is a pilot program initiated by the Chicago Board of Education in cooperation with providers of various health care services including the Illinois Eye Institute for vision care. The participant should understand the number of children impacted by the program and the types of vision problems identified
Keywords: Vision Care, Child Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.