Prevent Blindness Illinois and ISPB are joining efforts in January’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month to provide patients, care partners, and professionals with free educational resources on the eye disease. Glaucoma causes loss of sight by damaging a part of the eye called the optic nerve. When glaucoma damages the optic nerve, patches of vision are lost, usually peripheral vision. Treatment cannot reverse damage that has already occurred, but it can prevent further vision loss.
PBIL and ISPB offer a vast collection of free resources including downloadable fact sheets, a listing of glaucoma financial assistance resources, shareable social media graphics, and a dedicated webpage. Additionally, because eye drops are often prescribed for glaucoma patients, we have informative resources on how to take eye drops effectively, including a downloadable fact sheet in English and Spanish, a demonstration video, and a dedicated webpage at PreventBlindness.org/taking-eye-drop-medications.
As part of the Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Expert Series, glaucoma episodes include:
- “Glaucoma and Public Health” with Karen Allison, MD, MBA, FACS, Chief of Glaucoma, Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester. Dr. Allison was recently elected to the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors.
· “Understanding Glaucoma” and “Information and Resources for Glaucoma Patients” featuring Constance Okeke, MD, MSCE, glaucoma specialist at Virginia Eye Consultants, and Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.
- “Focus on Eye Health Patient Story: Glaucoma” with Prevent Blindness Associate Director of Eye Health Services, Tasha R. Lockridge, sharing her glaucoma diagnosis and treatment journey.
A recent study “Prevalence of Glaucoma Among US Adults in 2022” found that approximately 4.22 million people in the United States have glaucoma, with 1.49 million having vision-affecting glaucoma. The data showed a substantial variation in prevalence across demographic subgroups, U.S. states, and counties in 2022. The study was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC), the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington (Seattle), The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan, and the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Glaucoma Center of Excellence, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vision Health Initiative. Study estimates were developed using data within the CDC’s Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS).
To help support the dissemination of the study’s findings, Prevent Blindness has created social media graphics in English and Spanish, and a dedicated webpage at: https://preventblindness.org/glaucoma-prevalence/. A video series supporting this work and glaucoma awareness has launched with two episodes, including:
- “Why is it important to know how many people have glaucoma?” with Shervonne Poleon, PhD
- “What can help people at risk for glaucoma?” with Mitzi Swift, Clinical Research Coordinator at UAB Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
More videos in the series will debut throughout the month of January.
Finally, PBIL, ISPB, and Responsum Health offer the free program, “The Glaucoma Community,” a comprehensive platform available in multiple languages providing educational glaucoma content, a personalized newsfeed, and the moderated “Community Chat.” The Glaucoma Community is available via a web browser or through a mobile app for Apple or Android users. Members are also encouraged to join the dedicated Facebook group.
To help promote this free resource, The Glaucoma Community Promotional Toolkit was created for allied healthcare and public health professionals. Included in the kit are flyers, social media content, and PowerPoint slides.
For more information and materials on glaucoma, visit PreventBlindness.org/glaucoma
