Vision health is critically important for all aspects of a person’s life, including physical health, social engagement, education, employment, and socioeconomic position. Reduced vision affects a person’s ability to perform daily activities and increases a person’s risk of other health problems and premature death. It can also cause economic stress on individuals and society from direct medical expenses and indirect expenses related to loss of mobility and productivity. Unfortunately, vision health is rarely included in public health programs designed to prevent or manage chronic diseases because of limited resources and competing priorities. As a result, most public health agencies lack the framework or guidelines they need to appropriately address vision and eye health as a public health issue.
In this webinar, you will hear from Dr. Heather Whitson, one of the country’s leading experts in eye health who has deep experience both clinically and tying the science to public health practice. You will also be introduced to a practical Vision and Eye Health toolkit that you can use in your own programmatic work and introduce to partners. Finally, you will hear from two experts on how ideas from the toolkit can be used to promote vision and eye health as a public health priority.
Watch the webinar video here:
NACDD February 2020 General Member Webinar – Building Public Health Capacity to Enhance Vision and Eye Health from NACDD