Prevent Blindness Provides Free Glaucoma Resources to Patients, Care Partners, and Professionals
As part of January’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month, the non-profit Prevent Blindness is offering free educational resources to patients, care partners, and professionals. The resources include 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, Prevent Blindness has 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.
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, Prevent Blindness 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.
For more information and materials on glaucoma, visit PreventBlindness.org/glaucoma. For information on glaucoma financial assistance programs in English and Spanish, visit https://preventblindness.org/glaucoma-help.