Lumata Health and Prevent Blindness Announce Partnership Aimed at Delivering More Resources to Americans with Vision Loss
Lumata Health announced a partnership with Prevent Blindness which will focus on various initiatives to address barriers to care for patients, with a strong focus on mental health resources to start.
“Our care coordinators are in frequent contact with patients experiencing vision loss, where they coordinate transportation, provide educational resources, and assist with refilling medications. When it comes to supporting mental health needs as patients lose their eyesight and often increasingly isolate themselves or lose elements of their daily routine, providing impactful resources is not one-size-fits-all,” Landon Grace, CEO and Co-Founder at Lumata Health, said in a company news release. “Through our aligned missions to prevent blindness and preserve sight, we will collaborate on numerous initiatives to address gaps in health care delivery, not least of which is providing mental health resources to individuals with chronic eye diseases.”
More than 7 million Americans have vision impairment, including 1 million who are blind. Of this 7 million, the CDC reports 1 in 4 adults with vision loss experienced anxiety or depression and younger adults with vision loss have almost five times the risk of serious anxiety or depression. And these numbers could rise, as another 93 million U.S. adults are at risk for severe vision loss.
To kick off the partnership, Lumata Health and Prevent Blindness are collaborating on a training program for Lumata’s certified eye care coordinators, focusing on capacity building around mental health resources and support for individuals experiencing vision loss and blindness. Lumata’s care coordinators work directly with patients to ensure they are able to follow their doctor’s care plan through ongoing education and addressing barriers to care.
Prevent Blindness was founded more than 100 years ago. Together, the national office and six state affiliates advocate and engage millions of people each year to promote eye health and vision preservation through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs, and research.
Prevent Blindness was first introduced to Lumata when one of their care coordinators participated in the Prevent Blindness ASPECT program, an advocacy training program for individuals who are visually impaired and their allies. “We immediately saw parallels in our missions and upon learning more, were impressed by their wrap-around service model to tackle key barriers to care for patients at risk of losing their vision,” Jeff Todd, President and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said in a news release. “There was immediate enthusiasm to move the needle to effectively drive change addressing mental health for patients experiencing vision loss. We’re excited to roll out this first training program and continue to expand resources from there.”
Lumata Health currently serves thousands of people suffering from vision-threatening chronic eye conditions through partnerships with ophthalmology clinics and health systems. Data shows patients supported by Lumata Health’s intelligent eye care management platform, which incorporates clinical and psychosocial elements to empower people to manage their chronic condition throughout their care journey, miss an average of 30% fewer appointments.
This partnership will help Lumata’s team of care coordinators to connect their low vision patients with various resources in any given geographical area. The first training program will take place in the spring of 2023.