Jeanne Hopkins, OD, knows many children who fail school-based vision screenings, for whatever reason, do not get follow-up care. “When children fail a screening, a letter and maybe an email or two are sent home. That’s the end of the story,” Dr. Hopkins says. “The form is supposed to come back to the school. But the number of kids who receive services and return the form is pretty low.”
Dr. Hopkins is president of the Massachusetts Society of Optometry and a practicing optometrist at the Eye Clinic at Manet Community Health Center in Quincy, Massachusetts. She felt like one of the first steps was to determine what barriers keep people from completing this loop. Partnering with her community health center colleague, Benjamin Strake, OD, they began brainstorming ways to narrow the gap. They quickly identified the five key barriers:
- lack of knowledge
- appointment availability
- concerns about costs
- where the glasses would come from
- and language challenges for parents who might not speak English.
Dr. Hopkins connected with the city schools’ director of nursing and started the conversation.
STARTING SMALL
“We decided that the best solution was to bring the kids to our health center,” Dr. Hopkins said. Working together with the health center’s staff and marketing team, they devised a system to streamline appointments, address language barriers, and eliminate cost concerns.
Starting with a pilot program at two elementary schools within walking distance of the health center, Dr. Hopkins and her team reserved appointment slots for an early release day in May. They opened their schedules from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., offering flexibility for working families.
Quincy’s diverse community meant that language could be a major obstacle for some families, so the team developed flyers with QR codes that linked to appointment booking systems. The flyers were translated into multiple languages to ensure accessibility.
“We don’t have a full optical center at our health clinic, but we partnered with opticians and other support services to provide glasses,” Dr. Hopkins says. “We even had navigators help families with insurance questions.”
REACTIVATING COVID-PERIOD SCHEDULING SYSTEM
The health center also reactivated the scheduling system it had developed during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which allowed families to bypass the front desk and book directly online. This system proved to be effective and efficient, and it kept the health center’s front office staff from having to divert their attention.
The pilot was a success, filling up all the available appointment slots. Of the students who came in, 70% needed eyeglasses. Children who are covered under Medicaid were able to use their benefits, as were those students whose families have vision plan coverage. For those in between, thanks to partnerships with the Lions Club and other local organizations, all the students received the eyewear they needed. “We wanted to remove every possible barrier,” Hopkins said. “The Lions Club supported the exams, and for families without vision plans, the eyeglasses were provided at no cost.”
TEAM APPROACH
Dr. Hopkins emphasizes that the key to the program’s success was its team-based approach. From her collaboration with Dr. Strake to the support from local opticians, school nurses and the Lions Club, every player worked together to keep the children’s vision care process moving forward.
The pilot’s success has spurred plans for future efforts. Dr. Hopkins and her team are targeting students who failed vision screenings last year for a follow-up day in November. And they’re planning another session for the spring to help those who failed screenings this year.
“We’re hopeful this will continue to grow,” Dr. Hopkins says. “It fits our mission as a community health center, and now that these kids are in the system, they’ll know where to go next year. We feel like once we have them in the system, we can have that outreach happen more smoothly.”
Dr. Hopkins notes that she spent time researching and talking to organizations that already have well-developed programs. For example, her alma mater, New England College of Optometry, has a robust community health program in Boston. And Ohio has a Children’s Vision Strike Force, dedicated to making sure that children who fail a vision screening get the follow-up care they need.
She is also grateful that the local Lion’s Club has been an advocate for this outreach and expects to continue to support it. For Dr. Hopkins, the motivation is simple. “We’ll just keep plugging away at it and expanding. There’s always more work to do.”
Related: Dr. Kristen Kerber at New England College of Optometry is driven to make a difference.
