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AOA addresses infant, children’s vision at annual congress
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At the American Optometric Association’s 106th Annual Congress, the AOA House of Delegates welcomed a new president, established the InfantSee program, approved a policy statement on vision screenings and passed a resolution addressing membership requirements of state associations.
InfantSee program
As a result of the passage of Resolution 4, the AOA “encourages all doctors of optometry, where permitted by law and regulation, to participate in InfantSee by providing a comprehensive infant eye assessment within the first year of life as a no-cost, charitable public health service.”
This new program was supported by former AOA president, David Sullins, OD, who had developed and implemented a similar program, the discontinued Operation Bright Start.
According to AOA executive director, Michael D. Jones, OD, the idea behind Operation Bright Start was “if we can catch the kids who have severe refractive errors, ocular pathology or amblyopia at an early age, the chance of treatment or cure is much greater. Through Operation Bright Start, four or five states had ODs volunteering to evaluate these children.”
Dr. Jones told Primary Care Optometry News that the AOA decided to establish such a program for several reasons. “President Carter came to the congress last year in New Orleans and issued the challenge to optometry that he did. And this was such a perfect fit for the ‘Healthy Eyes, Healthy People’ theme that AOA introduced last year and will continue the next 2 years. We decided to embrace this program and implement it in a broad way.”
Dr. Sullins is a member of the InfantSee project team, which is chaired by Scott Jens, OD, from Wisconsin. Peter H. Kehoe, OD, will serve as the Board of Trustees liaison. Dr. Jones added that former Pres. Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, have committed to serve as the national spokespersons for InfantSee.
The AOA plans to roll out this voluntary program officially in January. A media kit — including public service announcements and office brochures — and a tool kit — including a video provided by Vision Service Plan and tracking forms — are being developed to help ODs implement the program.
Connors new AOA president
At what was regarded as one of the most well attended congresses in years, AOA members welcomed Victor J. Connors, OD, of Lodi, Wis., as the new AOA president. Wesley E. Pittman, OD, of Mexia, Texas, was elected president-elect; Richard L. Wallingford, OD, of Rockwood, Maine, was elected vice president; and C. Thomas Crooks III, OD, of Birmingham, Ala., was elected secretary-treasurer. Kevin L. Alexander, OD, PhD, of Big Rapids, Mich., and Randolph E. Brooks, OD, of Ledgewood, N.J., were each re-elected for 3-year terms to the Board of Trustees. New board member Carol Dibble Record, OD, of Charlottesville, Va., was elected to a 2-year term, and J. Pat Cummings, OD, of Sheridan, Wyo., assumed the position of immediate past president. Other Board of Trustees members include Peter H. Kehoe, OD, of Galesburg, Ill.; Joe E. Ellis, OD, of Benton, Ky.; and J. Wayne Buck, OD, of Crossett, Ark. |
During the past year, a children’s exam educational program, which was developed by the AOA, was presented at more than 40 state meetings. “That was greatly facilitated by a very generous grant from the Vision Council of America,” Dr. Jones said. “That program will wind down by early fall, and now we are considering putting together an infant eye exam traveling show to be offered to the state associations. There was also a track of education on the infant eye exam at this year’s congress.”
Position on vision screenings
The House of Delegates also approved a board policy statement that addresses vision screenings.
The board has a book of policy statements, explained Victor J. Connors, OD, AOA president, which serves as a resource to AOA staff, volunteers and members to consult when questioned about the board’s position in a particular area. Dr. Connors said a number of house resolutions addressing vision screenings were passed between 1950 and 1999, but no board policy statement existed.
“The policy statement says that nothing replaces an eye examination,” Dr. Connors told Primary Care Optometry News, “but properly constructed and administered vision screenings can be inclusive with the regular eye examination schedule as determined by the individual practitioner. The point is that screenings don’t have to be exclusive, but, properly constructed and administered, they can be inclusive.
“The policy statement also made it very clear that, to date, the validity of vision screening has yet to be clearly defined,” Dr. Connors continued. “But there is a study being conducted at Ohio State comparing the results from eye exams and eye screenings in a 5-year period, and it is funded by the National Eye Institute. The results are due in 2 years.”
State association membership
According to an AOA press release, Resolution 2 “seeks to unify organized optometry’s voice by strongly encouraging affiliate associations to amend their bylaws to require that their members also be members of the AOA.”
“The vast majority of the AOA state affiliates do not allow state-only members,” Dr. Connors said. “In other words, if you’re going to join the Iowa Optometric Association, you also at the same time join the AOA. Some states have, for whatever reason, had state-only members. And when the other states learned of this, they were very upset. They thought that if they required their members to be members of both associations, and we are all a federation, they were somehow being cheated by those states that allowed the state-only members. Four or five states presented resolutions on this issue to the Resolutions Committee. The response from the floor of the house was overwhelming.”
Optometric specialization
The Specialization Project Team, which was formed as a result of the efforts toward optometric board certification, also presented its report. Chaired by Leland Carr, OD, the project team recommended to the House of Delegates that its members continue to research the issue of specialization. A number of other groups, including the American Academy of Optometry, the American Optometric Student Association, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development and the Optometric Extension Program, are involved.
For Your Information:
- The American Optometric Association can be contacted at 243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141; (314) 991-4100; fax: (314) 991-4101; Web site: www.aoa.org.