Delta Dental of Iowa Increases Focus on Vision Giving

Posted on January 2, 2020 in Corporate

DeltaVision, a vision insurance plan from Delta Dental of Iowa for employers and individuals, helps its members access regular eye exams, corrective lenses and other vision treatments. However, not every Iowan has access to regular eye care. Delta Dental of Iowa is helping address that need by contributing $30,000 to three Iowa nonprofit organizations that specifically support children’s vision health - Prevent Blindness Iowa, Vision To Learn and Iowa KidSight.

“A vision exam can detect everything from eyestrain to diabetes to high blood pressure, so it’s an essential part of preventive health care,” said Jeff Russell, president and CEO of Delta Dental of Iowa. “As a health and wellness company, we’re working to remove barriers to care for all Iowans and help connect the dots between vision health and overall health. These donations help these organizations better serve the eye care needs of Iowa’s children.”

According to Vision to Learn (VTL), one of the three nonprofit organizations receiving donations from Delta Dental of Iowa, approximately 20,000 children in Iowa need glasses. These organizations and other medical providers also help Iowa’s children to understand eye health and safety including proper use of glasses and contact lenses, the importance of eye protection during sports and how to avoid eye strain from device use.

These three vision organizations received funding from Delta Dental of Iowa in 2019:

• Prevent Blindness Iowa works directly with participating school nurses and/or the school resource officers to coordinate vision screenings in targeted central Iowa elementary schools. ($10,000 grant)
• Vision To Learn (VTL) helps overcome obstacles to vision care by bringing a mobile clinic to low-income schools and providing exams and glasses for free. Vision to Learn has served more than 3,500 Iowa students since 2016. ($10,000 grant)
• Iowa KidSight is a vision-screening project where Lions Club volunteers throughout Iowa organize and conduct vision-screening sessions in local communities. The results are interpreted by trained staff at The University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and returned to families. This voluntary program is open to any child 6-months of age through kindergarten. ($10,000 grant)

Vision screening programs in schools and child care centers are effective ways for early detection of vision problems in children when treatment is more likely to be effective and before learning is impacted. Funding from Delta Dental will support all three organizations to expand reach throughout Iowa and set up Iowa children for successful learning. For more information on Delta Dental’s giving, go to www.deltadentalia.com/foundation.