What a year it has been! Despite the huge impact of COVID-19 on our Preschool Vision Screening Program, we consider it a successful year full of great accomplishments and a lot of sight saving! While many schools were not able to allow on-site screenings this year, PBNC worked hard to implement safe and effective screenings for those schools that were able to continue our partnership to offer free screenings for their preschoolers. Screenings were provided for over 17,000 children ages 2 to 5 in 41 counties across NC. Of the children screened, over 2,100 (12%) were referred to eye care providers for further examination. Screening services were provided in over 540 centers, and many of the directors and staff reported much appreciation for the opportunity to help ensure their children have healthy vision.
One child care center director shared her appreciation for our preventative service. “Each year we have this screening, and some children actually have vision problems that we thought were academic problems. This can be frustrating for the child, parents, and the teachers. Detecting problems early before they go to school has been the most beneficial for everyone. The parents were very pleased that someone was interested in the well-being of their child’s sight.” Another director shared, “PBNC provides quality service to children and centers. I am so grateful that this resource has been made available for early childhood programs to ensure that all developmental needs of children are being met. Several families have scheduled appointments as a follow up to the results of the vision screenings. This is a wonderful resource for children, families, and the community!”
