238802 Healthy Eyes Healthy People ®: Mobile Sight Saving and Eye Health Education Program

Monday, October 31, 2011

Lawrence Ragone, OD , South Jersy Eye Center, Camden, NJ
MaryAnn Ragone, MAS, MPH (c) , South Jersy Eye Center, Camden, NJ
Uzma Zumbrink, DHSc, MPH , Clinical & Practice Advancement Group, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, MO
The goal of this program is to bring important refractive and glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and cataract screenings to ethnic and diverse populations of Camden City, New Jersey which has been ranked by the U.S. Census Bureau as the fourth poorest city in the nation. Camden City has a population of 80,000. The objective of this program is to bring vital eye health and vision screening and follow-up comprehensive examination services to 700 adults and children at risk for vision impairment due to refractive errors and glaucoma. It is anticipated that the Mobile Vision Clinic will visit 30 Hispanic and African churches and other community service organizations; bring screening services to approximately 700 residents; bring follow-up comprehensive eye examinations to 300 residents; provide prescription eye wear and glaucoma treatment services to approximately 200 residents. This project is a continuously operating program. The South Jersey Eye Center (SJEC) will evaluate its patient outcomes on a qualitative and quantitative scale. For the quantitative evaluation, the South Jersey Eye Center uses basic excel spreadsheets and a customized Access database to capture and quantify statistical, demographic and diagnostic information. Data is entered on an individual level and quantified based on criteria designated by both SJEC and its funding partners (i.e. number of examinations, residential market of clients, diagnosis, gender, ethnicity, age, etc.). For the qualitative evaluation, the data is measured on daily, monthly and quarterly cycles to determine the quality of services provided.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
This presentation will analyze the vision care services provided through program. The South Jersey Eye Center (SJEC)is helping its underserved communities by providing eye exam and disseminating educational materials. This analysis shows that SJEC is reaching its target population, achieving stated goals based on patient count of new and returning clients, and anticipated outcomes including diagnosis, treatment, corrective procedures and disease control measures.

Keywords: Vision Care, Access to Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: MaryAnn Ragone is the COO of the South Jersy Eye Center.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.