Survey results of the second annual “Give Kids Sight Day” has revealed a knowledge gap between parents and children’s eye care services.

During the event held by Public Citizens for Children and Youth, 1,392 children had their eyes checked at Wills Eye Institute, up from nearly 1,200 at two locations last year. Nearly 43 percent of the kids were fitted for glasses, the last step in a process that included auto refraction, refraction and a visit to select frames from three eyemobiles stationed at the Wills entrance.

The survey parents completed with their children’s registration revealed accessibility of service as a major concern and that 75 percent of them had health insurance that did cover vision care.

“The top reason parents gave for coming to the event was the free glasses followed by the ability to get all of children seen at one time,” said Colleen McCauley, PCCY’s health director.

“But something’s getting in the way of them having access to convenient vision care, be it cost, location of care or confusion about their benefits.”

PCCY’s Child Healthwatch Helpline connects parents of children needing health care services to the local agencies. Coordinator Deborah Zubow agrees that finding eye care resources is a confusing proposition for both the parent and the provider.

“There’s a lot of misinformation, and most people don’t know about their benefits, including the ophthalmologist and opticians. Quite often vision care is either not covered by private health insurance or it is very expensive,” Zubow said.

A new grant will allow PCCY to help parents understand that vision exams and glasses are a covered insurance benefit and where families can get eye care.

“We’ll also work with eye care professionals, informing them of how to get clearance to replace a child’s glasses, as well as trying to streamline the process and see if CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) can expand their vision benefit to include more replacement glasses,” said Zubow.

The Philadelphia Tribune – December 28, 2010 – اقرأ المقال على الإنترنت