Access to vision health care and education for students:A school-based and community health program initiative

Background: The Vision Program operates at 15 school sites across the Metropolitan Detroit area providing pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students with eye exams, glasses and eye health education. Purpose: Our goal is to create access to professional eye health care services, while educating students on the importance of eye health care and retention of glasses. Significance: Uncorrected vision problems affect learning ability and overall academic success. Students are better positioned for academic success with prescribed glasses. Methods: The program receives vision services from a contracted optical provider that provides a licensed optometrist and an optical assistant to perform eye exams. We conducted eye health education using pre- and post- test questionnaires to measure increase in knowledge after viewing age appropriate DVDs addressing the importance of eye care. Glasses retention checks and surveys are administered 6-8 weeks after initial eye exam date. Results: Of the current 3291 students examined, approximately 50% (1634) of them required prescribed glasses. Students pre- and post- tested improved overall health education scores on average by 22% and 24% for grades 3-8 and 9-12 respectively. Glasses retention rate is currently 31% in grades K-8 (data for grades 9-12 currently not available). Conclusions: Our results currently show increases in health education scores and a greater need for glasses retention efforts. By removing barriers such as, transportation, financial limitations and time to receive professional eye health care, the vision program operates to improve and increase the number of students receiving eye exams while providing resources to combat these impediments.