Community and Public Health Programs

Kids Welcome Here® is a multi-pronged education campaign designed by the Pennsylvania Optometric Association (POA) to increase the number of children who receive eye examinations from optometrists. The campaign is based on the premise that educated parents will take their children for early, regular comprehensive eye examinations. Further, optometrists are the key to providing the necessary education to parents and others who provide care to children.

Kids Welcome Here® consists of five major elements:

• materials for optometrists to use to educate their patients who have children about the importance of early, regular eye examinations;
• materials educating school nurses about the importance of regular eye exams for school-aged children;
• continuing education in pediatric vision care for optometrists;
• consultation with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to revise the commonwealth’s school vision screening program; and
• education for school nurses regarding the revised school vision screening program as well as general eye health issues.

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The American Optometric Association (AOA) and The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., have partnered to create InfantSEE®, a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants nationwide. Through InfantSEE®, optometrists will provide a one-time, comprehensive eye assessment to infants in their first year of life, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income.

The InfantSEE® program:

• Provides no-cost access to an eye-care doctor who has the instruments and resources not available to general-care doctors like pediatricians and family physicians
  
  
• Detects potential problems that, if undetected, may lead to learning and developmental issues later
  
  
• Gives new parents the peace of mind that their infant’s vision is developing properly

InfantSEE® web site >>

POA developed three unique programs to help educate school nurses, teachers, school adminstrators, parents, and children about the role eye health plays in a child's overall health and the importance of regular eye examinations. These programs are:

• Children’s Vision Education Program — A new exclusive program to educate school nurses, teachers, parents and others who provide care to kids about general children’s vision issues.
  
  
• School Vision Screening Education Program — A program to educate school nurses about the rationale for the new school vision screening procedures as well as how to administer the new tests.
  
  
• Contact Lens Education Program — The program is designed to educate school nurses and others working with children about contact lenses, and provide them with the confidence needed to handle contact lens related eye problems successfully.

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Interested patients can apply for the program online in the VISION USA section of AOA’s Web site.

Volunteers in Service in Our Nation (VISION) USA, sponsored in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Optometric Association and the Pennsylvania Vision Conservation Institute, is a program for low income workers and their families who need eye care but cannot afford it.

Qualified low-income workers without eye/vision insurance and their families who are matched to doctors of optometry in their area will receive free eye care from participating optometrists. Both children and adults are included in the program. Exams may be limited on a first-come, first served basis in some areas.

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