InfantSEE®: A public health effort to provide comprehensive vision assessments to infants

Data collected by the American Optometric Association (AOA) via 10,000 InfantSEE® assessments conducted during 2006 and 2007, indicated the overall need for vision concern has increased from one in 14 in 2005 to one in nine in 2007. This finding reveals a growing need for early vision examinations in infants. The data also identified two groups at greatest risk for abnormal vision status: premature and minority babies.

Through InfantSEE®, participating optometrists provide a one-time, comprehensive eye and vision assessment to infants in their first year of life, between the ages of 6 and 12 months, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income or ability to pay. InfantSEE® addresses the ways in which providing comprehensive vision assessments will ensure that the infant's vision health is developing properly. Furthermore, this project seeks to make a concentrated effort to address the two identified groups at greatest risk of abnormal status (premature and minority babies). In addition, the InfantSEE® project seeks to address these priority populations with a variety of health education tools.

Utilizing various social marketing tools to address health education and promotion, one goal of the InfantSEE® program is to gain further knowledge about what means these identified high risk populations use to take advantage of a collaborative program such as InfantSEE®. Additionally, the program provides needed comprehensive vision assessments for infants to ensure healthy vision development and reassurance for mothers, while providing a public health program for infants across the country.