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Ohio program teaches students, school nurses about vision care
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ORLANDO, Fla. — The Ohio Optometric Association developed a program to teach students and school nurses the importance of lifelong eye and vision health, according to speakers at the American Optometric Association House of Delegates during Optometry’s Meeting.
Realeyes is a comprehensive vision education program that offers annual symposia for school nurses, as well as four different age-appropriate curricula for grades pre-K to eight that are taught by trained, volunteer optometrists.
The program was included in a grant proposal written more than 10 years ago by the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA) as part of the Ohio Department of Health’s Save Our Sight Fund, which gives Ohio motorists the option of donating $1 to the fund when they purchase their license plates, Greg Hicks, OD, OOA past president, said in his presentation at the meeting.
“Ohio’s Save Our Sight program, with special focus on school nurses, weaves together the critical relationship between optometrists and the overall health and development of our nation’s children,” he said.
The Save Our Sight Fund has awarded the OOA $4 million over the last 11 years to provide classroom education about eye and vision health and safety, according to Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD, associate dean at the Ohio State University College of Optometry and medical director of Realeyes.
School nurses are required to do “surprisingly complex” vision screenings on children, Dr. Zadnik said. In an effort to support school nurses, Realeyes offers educational symposia each autumn to teach school nurses about eyes, optometry, pediatric vision and more.
“We have provided some hands-on training at the symposia, but only on the components of the vision screening protocol mandated by the state of Ohio,” Dr. Zadnik told Primary Care Optometry News in an interview. “The highlight of the symposia is that there is one optometrist for every eight to 10 school nurses, so there is ample opportunity for individual nurse–optometrist interaction.”
The symposia also allow school nurses to learn how to teach the Realeyes courses, but OOA member optometrists usually present to students, Dr. Zadnik said.
She and the Realeyes staff offer 2-hour training sessions for optometrists, where they learn about the program and receive the script, DVDs and posters that support the four curricula. The program is now in its 10th year, and the Realeyes staff is in the process of updating each of the courses.
“Just last year, we initiated a now very popular curriculum for 3- to 5-year-olds featuring Sammy Safe Eyes and a CD with an adorable song,” Dr. Zadnik said in the interview. “Doctors go to preschools and sing and dance along with the kids.”
This summer, Dr. Zadnik and the Realeyes staff began developing the new middle school curriculum, which will be available sometime during the upcoming school year, she said. – by Courtney Preston
- Greg Hicks, OD, can be reached at (419) 626-0272; hicks@nwonline.net.
- Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD, can be reached at (614) 292-6603; kzadnik@optometry.osu.edu. Dr. Zadnik is a paid consultant to the Ohio Optometric Association.