142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

302611
Community Based Public Health Service Model for Testing and Remediation of Children's Vision in Underserved Populations

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Judy Harris, MBA , Department of Health and Human Services, Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Houston, TX
Pat Segu, OD , Director of Optometry Services at the Good Neighbor Healthcare Center, University of Houston College of Optometry, Houston, TX
Deborah Banerjee, PhD , Bureau Chief, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Research, Houston Health and Human Services, Houston, TX
At a global level, many children and adults struggle with poor vision that remains unidentified and uncorrected. When the need for vision correction remains unmet in children, it can have both proximal and distal implications. Resource constraints due to socioeconomic disadvantages can result in learning difficulties that are cyclical. Improved reading outcomes for children whose vision deficiency was corrected have been demonstrated in previous research.

The Vision Partnership program, named See to Succeed, and implemented by the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS), with its strategic public/private partnerships, has addressed vision health among children ages 6-18 in the school system. The program has successfully reached 13,000 children for vision correction, who have failed prescreen vision test or identified by a school representative as a risk of vision problems due to health problem, family history or injuries that have occurred. A significant proportion of students (>80%) in the large and diverse Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas are identified as belonging to low income families.

Three year data from this initiative will be analyzed to (a) examine risk factors and types of vision deficiencies reported by age, sex and grade level (b) identify structural, financial, intrapersonal barriers to timely vision care in children (c) describe performance improvement strategies implemented to enhance efficiency (d) analyze the relationship between zip code level poverty and various school performance metrics.

Well-functioning multi-sectoral partnerships can build capacity to implement an expansive community-based service model with the capability to provide high volume walk through vision services.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice

Learning Objectives:
Discuss types of vision deficiencies in children by socio-demographic factors Identify structural, financial and intrapersonal barriers to early identification of vision deficiencies and timely vision care in children Describe the multisectoral public-private partnerships that can provide vision care to almost 13,000 children in three years.

Keyword(s): Vision Care, Underserved

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an MBA with extensive experience implementing and managing public health programs in the Houston Health Department. As Assistant Director, I provided executive leadership for health centers and public health programs such as Immunizations, WIC, family planning and home visitation programs. Currently as special assistant to the Director, I develop and manage complex projects such as the 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver initiatives and the partnership to provide improved access to visions services for children.
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.