GUELPH – Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is partnering with the Lions Club to offer school-based vision screening to Senior Kindergarten (SK) students.
The program will run at 10 Guelph schools, with roll-out throughout March.
Over the next year the program will expand to all schools in Wellington, Dufferin and Guelph.
The screening will be administered by trained Lions Club volunteers and will be overseen by Public Health.
Screening consists of three short and simple tests that can identify some risk factors for certain vision disorders, such as amblyopia (sometimes called “lazy eye”), reduced stereopsis (inability to recognize depth), strabismus (more commonly known as “eye turn”) and refractive vision disorder (common refractive errors are nearsightedness and farsightedness).
“Visual health is a critical part of a child’s overall health and well-being,” said Dr. Nicola Mercer, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
“If left untreated, vision problems may become serious and impact a child’s academic performance and confidence.
“While vision screening is a great way to identify optical health concerns, we’d like to remind parents that it is not a replacement for a yearly comprehensive eye exam with a licensed optometrist.”
Parents and guardians of SK students at the participating schools will receive a pre-screening information leaflet before the screening date.
The school-based vision screening program is in accordance with the Child Visual Health and Vision Screening Protocol, 2018 of the Ontario Public Health Standards (2018).
More information
For more information about the Vision Screening, call the Public Health Let’s Talk Parenting phone line at 1-800-265-7293 ext. 3616 or visit www.wdgpublichealth.ca/vision-screening.
