Partnering to Support Children’s Vision Needs Across Iowa

Posted on July 25, 2024 in Vision Health

How do you know when a child is struggling to see? Vision issues aren’t always obvious. Many times, vision concerns in children go undetected until they reach school age because children don’t realize that the way they see isn’t normal, so they don’t know how to tell their parents when there is a vision issue. That’s why routine vision screenings are critical to identify and address potential vision problems early in a child’s life.  

How Delta Dental of Iowa Supports Vision Health in Iowa

As a not-for-profit insurance company, Delta Dental of Iowa’s mission is to build stronger communities by investing in actions that promote and improve health. One way we do this is by working with and supporting Iowa’s three vision nonprofit organizations, Iowa KidSight, Prevent Blindness Iowa and Vision To Learn. These organizations are committed to increasing awareness, and access to vision screenings and services for Iowa children. The Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation is proud to invest in and partner with these dedicated organizations on these important efforts.

Why Children’s Vision Screenings Are Important

According to Prevent Blindness Iowa, nearly 80% of a child’s learning during development is done through vision. Vision health is an important part of growth and success in school. Across Iowa, there is an ongoing need for school-age children to receive regular vision screenings to help detect and address vision problems early.

Children with vision issues may struggle to read the board in the classroom or have constant headaches and eye strain from trying to see. This can lead to frustration, bad grades, and even behavioral problems.

However, not all vision problems are as easily fixed as getting glasses. Some vision disorders, such as amblyopia, can cause irreversible sight loss if left untreated. This is why experts recommend that children five years and older have a vision exam each year.

Stories of Impact

Prevent Blindness Iowa, recently shared the story of four-year-old Andrew, who they met while performing vision screenings for a daycare.

Before the screening, Andrew’s parents had noticed that he would have difficulty concentrating on tasks. Things kids typically enjoyed, like coloring, playing with toys, or participating in sports, rarely held his attention. They never considered that this could be a sign of a vision problem.

The vision screening he received identified that Andrew may have a vision concern, and he was referred to an optometrist for a full exam. The doctor confirmed that he did, in fact, have a vision issue that could be treated with glasses. After receiving his new glasses, Andrew’s parents immediately noticed a difference in his ability to focus, and he was much happier as well.

Iowa KidSight, shared with us that many parents are not aware that their young child may have a vision issue and sometimes parents end up feeling guilty for not knowing.

Charlotte was screened by Iowa KidSight and their local Lions Club volunteers at her preschool when she was four years old. Her screening resulted in a referral for an eye exam and it was discovered that she needed glasses.

Charlotte’s mother reported that she was shocked to learn that her daughter was not seeing well and how strong a correction she would need. She felt terrible for not noticing anything might have been wrong, but in the same breath, her daughter didn’t know any different, so she was compensating while developing as a toddler. The biggest change they noticed after she received her glasses, was that their daughter was much more engaged in activities. Before, she had been a reserved child, and afterward that was no longer the case.  

Vision To Learn (VTL) uses a mobile vision clinic to bring vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to children at schools in low-income communities across Iowa and the country. According to VTL, approximately 1 in 4 children need glasses to see clearly at school, but many in low-income and/or rural communities often go without access to eye care.

At George Washington Carver Academy, school nurse Rachel was in awe at the experience of having Vision To Learn screen children at the middle school. “The screenings helped us to determine that we had 139 students at our school who needed eye exams. That’s more than 25% of our student body. Out of those 139 students who completed eye exams, 135 of them needed glasses!”

Rachel loved hearing students say that they felt they could do much better in class now that they had glasses. Vision To Learn is making a difference and impacting lives of students during their most important learning years.

More About Iowa’s Vision Nonprofits

Iowa KidSight

Iowa KidSight is a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. They are dedicated to enhancing the early detection and treatment of vision impairments in young children (target population 6 months of age through kindergarten) in Iowa communities through free vision screenings and public education. Iowa KidSight screens more than 46,000 children each year and in 2024 they surpassed their latest milestone of screening 750,000 children since they began in 2000. They work with licensed childcare providers (centers and in-home), elementary schools, and local public health events. Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation provides funding to Iowa KidSight to support their follow-up coordination with families when a child is referred for an eye exam.

Prevent Blindness Iowa

Since 1958 Prevent Blindness Iowa (PBI) has been working to eliminate unnecessary vision loss for both adults and children across the state through vision research, education and screening efforts. Annually, PBI screens over 40,000 children at Iowa schools and daycares for possible vision concerns as well as providing vision screening trainings for school nurses, teachers and administrators. Our Foundation is proud to provide funding to support PBI’s efforts as well as collaborate each year to host a vision clinic that provides free vision screenings, exams, and eyeglasses to communities in high need.

Vision To Learn

Vision To Learn is a national nonprofit that offers free vision screenings, eye exams, and two pairs of glasses to children via a mobile clinic that delivers services to students at their school removing barriers to access. Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation provided grant funding to VTL Our to purchase a second mobile clinic to expand its operations and increase its service area in Iowa. Since its Iowa launch in 2016, Vision To Learn has provided more than 19,500 eye exams and over 16,350 eyeglasses to students in Iowa.

More Help is Needed

While Delta Dental of Iowa, our Foundation and nonprofit partners are dedicated to helping address vision concerns in Iowa’s children, we recognize that this problem is far too big for any one organization to tackle on their own. Approximately one in four school-age children has a vision issue and experts have seen an increase in cases of nearsightedness over the years due to the usage of digital screens at an early age.

Our work in this area is only a small component of a much larger issue. In collaboration with these dedicated nonprofits, we’re able to help more children identify and address their vision issues early on before learning and development are impacted in bigger ways.