The focus of the campaign for the next couple of years is diabetes education and awareness, and people are doing a lot of activities to get involved. Public spaces and buildings around the world will be lighting themselves with blue light in honor of the occasion. Because education is a critical part of understanding diabetes, many organizations are making it easy for you to participate. You can take the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Risk Assessment, which evaluates your risk and provides tips to lower it. You can also take the Big Blue Test, which helps provide life-saving supplies to people with diabetes. Both of these tests allow you to share with your Facebook friends to help spread the word about diabetes.

Curious about what VSP does for people with diabetes? Because diabetes can be detected through an eye exam, VSP providers are always counseling patients about the connection between eye health and overall health (see our Diabetes Discovery Center). We also have a great campaign that focuses specifically on diabetes–Eye on Diabetes. This year we took the VSP Mobile Eyes on the road to three states and with the help of 23 VSP network doctors, we helped over 2,500 uninsured/underserved adults and children receive free eyecare services. Of those, 89 were directly referred for diabetes risk.

Here’s a brief video from our last 2011 stop in Atlanta, Georgia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The campaign will continue to four more states in 2012. Stay tuned for dates and locations!

Southern California College of Optometry student, Aaron S., evaluating a patient on the VSP mobile eye clinic.

During the large free health clinic event VSP recently participated in at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, we had the pleasure of working alongside a number of optometry students from Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) who were volunteering their time and services. One student, Aaron S., sat down with me on Friday to share a bit about his experience.

Why did you choose to get involved at this event?
I had the chance to volunteer as a 4^th year student at SCCO. When I was offered the chance to come out and help for two of the four days I agreed knowing I would enjoy the experience.

What has your experience been like so far?
Today I have been able to do more than typical vision screenings. Patients who come to this health clinic get a full comprehensive examination with the latest technology. For example, multiple phoropters are available for interns and doctors to use which provides patients with a refined eyeglasses prescription. I was happy to work in the VSP clinic where a full Marco integrated lane room could be found. The auto refractor even had NCT technology (non-contact tonometry). Ultimately this means that patient’s could receive the best care from knowledgeable volunteers who get to use the best and latest instruments.

What are your thoughts on having the opportunity to do something like this?
I think about the patients I have seen today. The majority I have seen so far needed up to date vision correction very badly. One patient had glasses that had been broken and glued back together in a crude fashion. This patient did this because he had a high amount of astigmatism and myopia (nearsightedness) and couldn’t see without them. Today he was given a new prescription and the opportunity to have new glasses made for him. Good eye care with a current prescription and glasses will provide better quality of life in the here and now for patients coming in this weekend. VSP was one of the major providers volunteering time and money to this huge event. Taking care of patients with the instruments they provided today has been the most efficient way for me to take care of these patients so far.

Why do you want to enter the field of optometry?
I love being able to help people see better. I am still a student, but I have already seen the look many people get on their face when they put on a new pair of much needed vision correction. Helping people see has helped motivate me towards this profession.

Check out additional pictures from the event here.

VSP employees with Dr. Oz after closing down a record breaking day of 455 patients being seen in the vision area in one day.

In one of the largest outreach  events that VSP has participated in to date, we had the incredible opportunity to work for a day alongside Dr. Oz, two-time Daytime Emmy^® Award-winning host of the Daytime Emmy^® Award-winning “The Dr. Oz Show”, and vice-chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University (that’s a mouthful isn’t it?).

He arrived on the second day of the clinic to meet with the volunteers, thanking them for their commitment to give back to those who need it most, to consult with the medical, dental and vision care professionals as they donated their time and services and to provide medical advice and guidance to a number of patients who were being seen.

One of those patients, David, was identified when he walked up to the VSP educational table in front of our mobile eye clinic. He told us he was drawn to the table because of an image that was displayed that simulated how a person with diabetic retinopathy would see. He was terrified that the blurriness he was experiencing was, in fact, due to diabetic retinopathy. As a 22-year-old Hispanic male with Type 2 diabetes and a family history of diabetes-related health issues, he had come to the clinic to try to be proactive about his health for his wife and two baby girls. However, he had never received an eye exam in his life and had no idea that he could lose his sight from the disease.

With his eyes extremely red and knowing he was experiencing blurriness, we immediately referred him to the vision area for care where optometry students from Southern California College of Optometry and VSP doctors were awaiting him. After moving through the various stations, David ultimately ended up with VSP doctor, and lead eyecare practitioner for CareNow, John Nishimoto, O.D. After consulting with David and learning more about both his personal and family history, Dr. Nishimoto made an initial check of his eye health. At that point, he didn’t see an obvious sign of diabetic retinopathy, but did see something that didn’t appear normal. At this point, Dr. Oz joined him to learn about David and and his situation. Dr. Nishimoto made the decision to take David onto the VSP mobile eye clinic for a more thorough examination where Dr. Oz joined them. I’m going to do something horrible and leave you here…with a bit of a cliffhanger. The reason why? David’s story will be told on the Dr. Oz show and we really want you to watch! His story is a great example of not only what can be detected in an annual eye exam, but also why regular eyecare  is an important part of a person’s healthcare routine.

We’ll keep you posted on when to tune in to the Dr. Oz show (we are still confirming the exact date) to see the whole experience. But in the meantime, check out some of the behind the scenes pictures we captured here.

And to Dr. Oz? It was a pleasure and we say thank you for helping to bring to the national spotlight some of the personal stories and needs of the more than 725,000 people VSP has had the opportunity to impact through our charitable programs. We hope this will encourage even more people and organizations to give back while also serving to educate everyone about the importance of taking advantage of, and utilizing, the channels they have available to them to take care of themselves.

Joplin, MO patients waiting to be seen on Eyenstein

At least 130 people were killed and more than 900 injured during last week’s tornado in Joplin, MO. VSP Mobile Eyes headed there right away and our mobile clinic Eyenstein and staff have been set up at Missouri Southern State University since Monday. With the help of VSP’s network of local eye doctors like Dr. Jeffrey Laferla, we are able to help victims of the tornado receive much-needed eyecare and eyewear.

VSP’s mobile eyes operations manager, Niki Myers, has been there since day one and shares her experience.

It is now our fourth day in Joplin and third day seeing patients.  Each day seems to get tougher and tougher as we hear more stories from the patients and see how much they’ve suffered in their eyes.  We see many patients with bruises on their faces and arms.  A patient came in yesterday with a few broken ribs because her house fell on her.  She was buried by her belongings.  She lost everything, including her glasses.

There was another patient who had debris (fiber glass) that had gotten into her eye while she was helping clean up her neighborhood and it caused a severe infection that made the skin around her eye swell up.  VSP Provider Jeff Laferla O.D. had to lacerate her eye to release the pressure.

The mobile clinic team plans to stay in Missouri until the end of this week, however, we are constantly monitoring the need of both individuals requiring care as well as our VSP doctors whose businesses have been impacted.

Check out more photos from our team in Joplin.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mobile Clinic Manager Niki Myers (right) stands with a patient who was finally able to see again with her new glasses.

After the devastating storms that plagued the South in late April, VSP Mobile Eyes set its sights on helping the affected residents see clearly again. A disaster response team of VSP employees headed to Tuscaloosa, AL, where hundreds of homes were destroyed. Our fully equipped, 45-foot mobile eye exam clinic, Eyenstein, enabled us, in partnership with students and doctors from the University of Alabama Optometry School (UAB) and VSP network doctors, to provide free eye exams and eyewear to those who lost or had their glasses broken during the tornadoes.  

We set up at the Red Cross shelter in Tuscaloosa and coordinated with the UAB to provide services. Each day proved to be busier than the last. With four portable exam stations in addition to the mobile clinic, we were able to help 79 patients in one day, with a seven-day total of more than 400 patients!  

Some of the patients had prescriptions so strong they literally could not see right in front of them without glasses and had to feel around them with their arms and hands.  Can you imagine not being able to see after a tornado devastated your town? It reiterates the importance of VSP’s disaster response services.  

To help keep up with the high volume of patients, UAB provided two to three doctors per day as well as fourth-year students to assist with pre-testing, paperwork and patient flow in the lab. Many VSP providers volunteered their time and services as well.  

The scene in Tuscaloosa was heart wrenching, but it was also inspiring to see how a community comes together in times of need. On almost every corner, neighbors were providing food, water or whatever supplies were available to help each other. Bess the Book Bus, a mobile literacy program that VSP is a sponsor of, also eased children’s minds when she visited the shelter one day to read to them and hand out free books.  

The team is now on its way to Pratt City, Ala., where it will set up at the local Red Cross shelter.

Hobby Lobby in Tuscaloosa, AL

VSP is actively conducting outreach to assist those affected by the tornadoes, flooding and severe weather that devastated numerous Southern and Midwestern states. VSP Mobile Eyes is in Tuscaloosa, AL with Eyenstein, our mobile clinic in partnership with Transitions Optical. Working with the local Red Cross chapter, and with the help of University of Alabama Birmingham Optometry students and VSP network providers, our disaster response team is identifying opportunities to provide free eye exams and glasses to victims in need.

We are working closely with all relief agencies, including the American Red Cross, to ensure all who are directly affected by the tornadoes or flooding and have eyecare needs receive that care.  We have provided the American Red Cross with more than $1.15M worth of eyecare vouchers to cover eye exams and materials for anyone in the affected areas with broken or lost glasses. We are also working with our providers who may be in need of assistance to continue operations as a result of damage to their practices.

I Need New Glasses
Were your glasses lost or damaged due to one of the recent natural disasters? You have enough to worry about, so let us help you see again.

• VSP Members: Call the Member Services Support Line at 800.877.7195 for reinstatement of your benefits, regardless of eligibility.
• Non-members: Contact your local American Red Cross chapter and request a VSP eyecare voucher.

VSP Providers: How can VSP help?
We are contacting providers in affected areas as fast as possible. We will continue to follow up with those affected by the most recent tornadoes into next week. If you are in an affected area and have not yet been contacted, please let us know how you are doing and if your practice is damaged or closed. You can email vspoutreach@vsp.com or call 800.852.7600 ext. 7373. We are available to assist you to help you continue to provide care for your patients. The VSP mobile eyecare clinics  are ready to provide support to doctors in affected areas as needed.  Two clinics are already in affected regions, one in Little Rock, AR, and one on its way to Tuscaloosa, AL.  

 VSP has extended outreach efforts to the following affected areas: 

• April 9th: Tornado in Iowa
• April 10th: Tornado in Wisconsin
• April 11th: Tornadoes in North Carolina, Virginia and Kaufman & Johnson Counties in Texas
• April 11th: Flooding in Fargo & Cass Counties in North Dakota and Becker & Clay County in Minnesota
• April 13th: Tornadoes in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arkansas
• April 27th: Tornadoes in Alabama and Georgia

Sara W. (Eye on Diabetes, Phoenix)

We saw a lot of patients this week but one in particular who stood out in my mind was Sara W. I asked her why vision was so important to her and she said “reading and my dog, Charlie, are the only forms of entertainment my husband and I have.” Due to physical circumstances, Sara and her family have been displaced and Sara has been struggling to read. She was so thankful to have had her eyes checked by an optometrist and is excited to get her new glasses to be able to read with her husband.

I hope after reading about Sara you’re encouraged to visit your eye doctor to get your annual eye exam so you’ll be able to read with your friends and family for years to come.

See more pictures from the Eye on Diabetes Campaign in Phoenix, Arizona on our Flickr page.

Andy Gee a.k.a. GeeWhizKid

At this past weekend’s Health Fair & Forum in Sacramento, 14 VSP employees volunteered their Saturday to staff an information booth, provide low-level vision assessments, or assist doctors Elisabeth S. Swan, O.D. and Thomas R. Swanson, O.D. who were also volunteering their services in SeeLia, one of the VSP mobile clinics. 

 Several of the VSP volunteers share their thoughts from the experience. 

 Marian H. assisted patients in the screening:    

“The vision assessment showed that both a man and his daughter were in need of our services. The daughter is in the second grade and wants to be a teacher or a scientist when she grows up. She was having trouble seeing at school so her teacher moved her closer to the front of the class.
He knew they both needed corrective eyewear but had absolutely no way of providing for himself and his daughter.
I explained the importance of annual comprehensive eye exams and set him up with a VSP Mobile Eyes voucher and a doctor directory.
I couldn’t believe the change in his demeanor. He was so happy he started crying and it took a few minutes to get him calmed down. I assured him we were happy to provide this service.”  

 Judy M. assisted patients in low-level vision assessments and discovered:    

“My most memorable moment was when I realized the young man I was talking to was having a sight-threatening issue, knowing time was so important to saving his eyesight.
Sure, I could be at home or going to a movie, you know, comfortable things. But for so many people there is little comfort. The people that come to these events come for a very real reason. It’s a need.” 

 Juliet C. manned the information booth, educating visitors on health risk factors prevalent in the African American community. 

VSP Employees (L to R): Koi R., Juliet C., Cynthia S. and Doris B. volunteering at the VSP information booth

“I volunteered for this event because of the importance of educating the community on various health risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.”  

Cynthia S. helped educate visitors on what makes up a comprehensive eye exam.  

“I volunteered at this event because I grew up in the neighborhood, and this was a way of giving back to the community. I met parents of people I went to school with and it felt good to be able to educate them on the many diseases that can be detected through the eyes. It was amazing how many people didn’t understand the difference between their perception of an ‘eye exam’ and a ‘comprehensive eye exam’ from a VSP doctor.”  

Jenny B. assisted in the vision assessment process.  

“..to see someone’s face when they realize that VSP isn’t expecting anything from them, that the exam and glasses given to them are free just so they can see better! I met a 52-year old woman who had never had an eye exam in her lifetime, making do with $2 ‘cheaters’ that really didn’t fix her vision problems!”  

Me? I got to merge my photography hobby with my desire to volunteer in the community and work alongside VSP employees who I don’t see everyday! Check out the photos from the event at VSP’s Flickr gallery.  

Niki M. is a VSP Mobile Clinic Operations Manager.

The latest from Niki:

Today was even busier than yesterday! Kim and I are really getting the hang of working the dispensary. I have learned more about prescriptions than I ever thought I would! Our group split again, so collectively we saw nearly 500 patients in 5 hours. We have 4-5 optometrists and 5-6 optometry students in each group, so as you can imagine, they are keeping us moving.

I dispensed glasses to an older lady today that hadn’t been able to afford glasses in years. When I put her in new glasses and asked how the reading card looked, she said very humbly and sweetly, “Wow, I can clearly see all the pretty words again.” Some of the towns in Dominica we are visiting are very, very poor, with some living in one bedroom shacks without bathrooms and only enough electricity to power a few small items in the kitchen (if at all). In conditions like this, survival becomes more important than some of the “luxuries” (like clear vision) that most people in the US take for granted.

With our Mobile Eyes program, we offer patients great Marchon and Altair frames for free. With this program, patients must pay the local Rotary, which VOSH partners with on these missions, $25 for whatever random reused glasses they have in stock. The patients in Dominica are so grateful, and accept without complaint some of the second-hand older frames we have to distribute.

Tomorrow is expected to be our busiest day. We will be in Roseau, the capital and one of the more populated areas, and also where our hotel is located. Our whole team will be together with the goal of seeing over 800 patients!

Our time is flying by so fast!

Kim’s notes from day two:
We split the group in two today and collectively we saw over 400 patients. Niki and I are really comfortable with the flow and dispensing. We have adapted to VOSH’s seventeen years of experience and they are a well oiled machine. We coined a new term today: we are “vosh-ticians.”

This group is amazing and have made us feel so welcome and a part of the team.

Notes from the first day of the clinic:
We arrived safely in Dominica and have been enjoying getting to know our team of 35 and the locals. We spent Sunday at a local church with the crew and had the honor of meeting the country’s president! They fed us delicious local food.

Today was our first clinic day. After an hour and a half crazy bus ride in the monsoon rains, we saw nearly 200 patients, who were already lined up and waiting well before we arrived. There are tons of boxes and supplies to lug in and out each day, so in addition to our duties in the dispensary, they’re keeping us very busy.

The Ferris State optometry students VSP sponsored are very grateful for VSP’s assistance. Stay tuned for our next update and follow our tweets @VSPVisionCare

Bringing hope to the eyes of Dominica Part 1 and Part 2