Recorded presentation

R. Norman Bailey, OD, MBA, MPH, Clinical Professor, University of Houston College of Optometry, 505 J. Davis Armistead Building, Houston, TX 77204-2020, 713-743-1916, nbailey@uh.edu

Healthy People 2010 lists diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataract as the three eye diseases to be addressed by eye and vision care practitioners and others during the next decade to reduce the visual impairment that can result from these diseases when left untreated. The Community Health Optometry class at the University of Houston College of Optometry had a student eye health education project designed to reach out to at-risk groups with appropriate eye health education programs that could reduce impariment due to these eye diseases. These programs were developed to enable members of the targeted at-risk groups become aware of these sight-threatening conditions and to know when to seek professional eye and vision care. The approximately 100 students in the class were divided into twelve project teams. Each team developed a creative education program to present to a selected at-risk group. This project had two major objectives. The first was to affect attitudes and behavior of members of the groups at-risk for visual impairments from these conditions. The second was an affective behavioral objective for the optometry students themselves, with the goal of equipping the student with both the tools and a desire to affect eye health behavior in their patients in the future. This presentation will report on the variety of eye health education programs developed and their immediate impact on the targeted at-risk groups. Measurement of the success of the second objective would need to be achieved after this group of students graduate and enter the practice of optometry.

Learning Objectives:

• The goal of this presentation is to assist the attendee in developing successful eye health eduction programs to affect selected vision objectives in Healthy People 2010.

Keywords: Vision Care, Healthy People 2000/2010

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation