Gift of Sight Month
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
We all appreciate the importance of good vision. In fact, blindness ranks as one of the top fears of aging Americans.
While most people recognize the importance of a routine annual physical to either prevent or detect many of these conditions, far appreciate that an annual eye exam plays a critical role in the early diagnosis of these disorders, as well as the leading causes of blindness.
Whether someone is eight or 80, routine eye exams are critical for not just vision and eye health, but a myriad of other health conditions, ranging from cognitive function and inflammation to heart health and diabetes. In fact, when you get an eye exam, the doctor actually gets a non-invasive look INSIDE the body, giving the physician a chance to detect many of today’s most feared health conditions, oftentimes long before symptoms appear.
And you thought it was just about glasses!
That’s why Gift of Sight Month is dedicated helping everyone enjoy the wonders of sight through healthy eyes and vision.
Gift of Sight Month, established by Versant Health, is a month-long holiday dedicated to helping Americans enjoy the wonders of sight through healthy eyes and vision. For many Americans, that often means having access to care.
Versant Health established the holiday after a Vision Wellness Study found that just 51% of people saw an eye doctor regularly. The same study also noted that 39% of consumers stated cost/affordability as the reason why household members do not see an eye doctor as often as they would like to.
Gift of Sight Month is dedicated to addressing these issues through both education and action. Data shows that routine eye exams not only protect you from devastating eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration, but can also detect any of the most feared diseases plaguing Americans—including diabetes, heart disease, and even dementia—often years before symptoms occur.
In this way, Gift of Sight Month advocates for eye exams as a low-cost, highly effective form of preventative medicine. It focuses on the connection between eye health, overall health, and wellness, with the eye exam being the crux to this intersection.
Gift of Sight Month encourages people to commit to preserving healthy eyes and vision for themselves, their loved ones, and their community. As part of this commitment, Versant Health disseminates educational information on protecting your eyes and vision, works with non-profits to improve access to care, and provides tips and resources for promoting healthy eyes and vision in individual communities.
For more information on Gift of Sight Month, including ways you can get involved, please contact Courtney Jones Duggan.
Quick facts:
Gift of Sight Month Resource Center
At this resource center, you’ll find helpful blog articles, infographics, flyers, white papers, eBooks, videos, and more.