Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness Selected to Participate in Pilot Program to Improve Vision and Eye Health
Columbus, OH (July 11, 2016) – The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness (PBO) received a 3-year grant to support its service on a statewide team chosen by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) to improve vision and eye health. The team will implement interventions that advance vision and eye health as public health priorities. The Ohio Department of Aging serves as the lead agency on the team and The Vision Section of the Ohio Public Health Association and The Ohio State University College of Optometry serve as the data lead. Other states selected for this national pilot program are Alabama and Nebraska.
The work of the Ohio team will focus on the following three areas in an effort to develop models and systems that can be duplicated to enhance the vision and eye health in other states across the nation:
a) Characterize the Public Health Burden of Eye Disease and Vision Loss. Collect, analyze, and use state data to describe and characterize the public health significance of eye diseases (e.g., glaucoma macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, refractive error) and vision impairment and/or examine the relationships between vision loss and quality of life, health disparities, and/or co-morbid conditions.
b) Promote Systems Change to Prevent Vision Loss and Enhance Access to Eye Care. Convene stakeholders to identify barriers to receipt of preventive care and treatment related to vision and eye health. Explore innovative models of care, system change approaches, technologies, and/or other collaborative strategies that reduce barriers and promote prevention and access to vision and eye care.
c) Implement Promising Interventions Related to Vision and Eye Health. Identify, adapt, or develop promising interventions designed to improve vision and eye health and/or improve the quality of life for persons with vision loss. Implement the intervention(s) in a specific community or target population and assess the impact of the intervention(s) on vision and eye health outcomes.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Ohio to have a national platform to share the successes of Ohio’s Aging Eye Public Private Partnership so that other states can learn from and adopt similar strategies for statewide collaboration with an aim of curbing the growth of vision loss among our aging population,” said Sherry Williams, President & CEO of Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate. “We will also have the advantage of learning from the other states involved and the technical assistance of the Vision Health Initiative at the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) in advancing our efforts”.
Prevent Blindness offers free fact sheets to help answer common questions about eye health and safety at www.pbohio.org For more information, please call Prevent Blindness at (800) 301-2020 ext. 105.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness is Ohio’s leading volunteer nonprofit public health organization dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight. We serve all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to more than 800,000 Ohioans annually and educating millions of consumers about what they can do to protect and preserve their precious gift of sight. For more information or to make a contribution, call 800-301-2020. Or, visit us on the web at www.pbohio.org or facebook.com/pbohio.