The Foundation Receives Major Grants: Major Initiatives Begin
News and Notes From the Foundation
November 2005
Roy Levit, MD
American Retina Foundation Chairman
AMD Patient Education Campaign Update
The Foundation's AMD patient education campaign is nearing its completion. Earlier this year, the Foundation received an educational grant from Alcon Laboratories to fund an AMD campaign focused on the importance of ocular vitamin therapy for patients with moderate to severe risk of AMD. In October, ASRS members in the United States received a letter informing them of the upcoming AMD patient education kit mailing and PR campaign launch. The Foundation also sent every U.S. ASRS member a sample patient education kit and a copy of the press release that was sent out to local media outlets in late October.
In early November, the campaign officially launched and the patient kits were distributed to select markets of ophthalmologists in Phoenix, Arizona and Tampa, Florida. A four (full) month local PR campaign coincided with the kit distribution, followed by a survey and follow up calls to recipients for feedback. A final review of the program's overall success will be completed in January 2006, at which time resources will be made to determine the program focus on a national level.
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Key Messages for the American Retina Foundation The following is a list of key messages from the American Retina Foundation's AMD Patient Education Campaign.
* According to the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) conducted by the National Eye Institute |
Savingvision.org Website Enhancements
The Foundation created its savingvision.org website to serve as a patient education resource for the general public seeking information about retina diseases, and to serve as the ASRS members' primary resource for education materials for their patients. Currently, the site contains information from the AMD kits that were distributed earlier this year; the DVD may be viewed directly from the site, and downloads of the patient brochure and recipe cards are also available. The Foundation would like to update the range of information available to include other eye diseases, treatments and other relevant materials. Plans are underway to re-write the Revealing Retina as a patient education booklet, with the option to download pages individually. The current physician version of the Revealing Retina booklet is also now available online with the option to download individual pages as well.
If you have any original patient education materials (not copyrighted) that you would like to share on the patient website, please contact Chris Seymour at the office (904) 998-0356.
Member Connect Service for Hurricane Evacuees
The Foundation would like to volunteer help to members affected by the hurricanes earlier this year with our Member Connect service. Although the Foundation cannot create funding for individuals due to legal restrictions, we can serve as conduit for ASRS members to offer help on a private basis to other members in need. If you are either: a member who has been displaced and is currently seeking employment or other services, or a member with an opening in your practice or have other services to offer to an evacuee, contact the Foundation office and we will "match up" members with each other accordingly. If you would like to participate or need more information, please contact Chris Seymour at the office (904) 998-0356.