title: Outcomes of an inner-city vision outreach program: give kids sight day.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Low-socioeconomic urban children often do not have access to ophthalmic care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the demographic characteristics and ophthalmic conditions in children attending Give Kids Sight Day (GKSD), an outreach ophthalmic care program held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, providing vision screening and immediate treatment when needed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective case-series study of children attending GKSD in 2012 (GKSD 2012) at an ophthalmology center in Philadelphia. Registration forms and records of all children attending GKSD 2012 were reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic characteristics, insurance status, spoken languages, reasons for attending, prior failure of vision screening, and attendance pattern of previous events were analyzed. The ophthalmological findings of these children were examined, including refractive errors, need for optical correction, and diagnoses for which continuous ophthalmic care was necessary. For children who needed ophthalmic follow-up, the rate of return to clinic and barriers for continuous care were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 924 children (mean age, 9 years; age range, 0-18 years; 51% female; 25% speaking a non-English language) coming from 584 families who attended GKSD 2012, of whom 27% were uninsured and 10% were not aware of their insurance status. Forty-two percent of participants had public insurance, which covered vision care and glasses, but 35% did not know their benefits and did not realize vision care was covered. Forty-nine percent of children attended because they failed community vision screening. Provision of free glasses and failure of previous vision screening were the most common reasons families elected to attend GKSD (64% and 49%, respectively). Eighty-five percent of children attended GKSD 2012 for the first time, whereas 15% attended prior events. Glasses were provided to 61% of attendees. Ten percent of the attendees needed continuous ophthalmic care, most commonly for amblyopia. Ten children needed ocular surgery for cataract, strabismus, nystagmus, ptosis, or nasolacrimal duct obstruction. With the assistance of a social worker, 59% of children requiring continuous treatment returned to the clinic, compared with 2% in prior years before social worker intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Programs such as GKSD can bridge the gap between successful vision screening and ophthalmic treatment, a gap that often occurs in low-socioeconomic urban populations. Those with public insurance coverage for vision services may not realize these services are covered. Social worker intervention is useful in overcoming common barriers to follow-up care.
authors: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Gad
authors: G
authors: Dotan
authors: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Billy
authors: B
authors: Truong
authors: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Melanie
authors: M
authors: Snitzer
authors: Public Citizens for Children and Youth, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Colleen
authors: C
authors: McCauley
authors: Eagles Youth Partnership, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Martinez-Helfman
authors: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Kathy
authors: K
authors: Santa Maria
authors: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania4Department of Ophthalmology, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors: Alex V
authors: AV
authors: Levin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015143:Philadelphia; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D015351:Vision Screening