Lions LOVRNET
A new Lions program to meet the growing
need for effective low vision rehabilitation
We need Lions as interviewers. and as direct service providers.
Please consider recommending a local ophthalmologist and
help spread the word in your community
Low Vision Definition
Low vision is defined as visual acuity of
20/50 or worse in the better eye while
wearing glasses or contact lenses and/or
blind spots or loss of peripheral vision that
interferes with the performance of everyday
activities.
“Low vision” cannot be improved by
glasses, surgery or medication.
The growing need for
low vision rehabilitation
Most cases of low vision
in the United States are
caused by age-related
eye diseases
– Macular Degeneration
– Glaucoma
– Diabetic Retinopathy
and other Retinal
Vascular Diseases
– Cataracts
Causes of Low Vision
Other
15%
Cataract
5%
Glaucoma
10%
Macular
disease
59%
Retinal
vascular
disease
11%
Nearly 85% of people who need low vision
rehabilitation are not being served
Each year, an estimated 5,850 visually impaired
patients in MD/DE/DC region receive low vision
rehabilitation services
– Approximately 40% of the current annual incidence is
being served
– Incorporating the annual death rate for the population of
people with low vision, the 5-year backlog is 18,611
(assuming annual incidence does not change and people
drop out after 5 years)
– Including the 5-year backlog, only about 15% of the
current need in MD/DE/DC is being served
Additional problems reported by
low vision clinic outpatients
• 40% have a hearing
impairment (19% wear a
hearing aid)
• 19% report numbness in
their fingers
• 10% have memory loss
• 20% have clinically
significant depression
• 50% have physical
limitations on their
mobility
• 35% have experienced
falls in the past 2 years
• 50% have chronic pain
• More than a third are
taking multiple
medications
Summary of the problem
• There is a severe shortage of eye doctors and
therapists who provide low vision rehabilitation
services, while the demand for services is
growing rapidly
• Many ophthalmologists do not order low vision
rehabilitation services for their patients
(“chicken or egg” problem)
• Health professionals and the general public
know little about the availability, quality, or
effectiveness of low vision rehabilitation and
community services for visually impaired people
Lions Low Vision
Rehabilitation Network
(Lions LOVRNET)
A three year demonstration project in
Maryland, Delaware, and District of Columbia
(Lions Multiple District 22) to:
1. Train and equip local optometrists and
ophthalmologists in private practice and
occupational therapists in home health agencies to
provide low vision rehabilitation services
Lions Low Vision Rehabilitation Network
(Lions LOVRNET)
2. Create a single portal for ophthalmologists to
refer low vision patients for service (online or by
phone), and a system for matching patients with
local service providers
Lions Low Vision Rehabilitation Network
(Lions LOVRNET)
3. Train and equip Lions Club members to educate
the public and doctors in the community about low
vision and low vision rehabilitation.
Currently available with CD including discussion
guide and questionnaire:
“Lions Blindness and Low Vision Education Project”
developed by NFB, Wilmer, Bloomberg, and Lions.
Lions Low Vision Rehabilitation Network
(Lions LOVRNET)
4. Measure patient reported outcomes and provide
continuous professional education to improve the
quality and effectiveness of low vision
rehabilitation services
Lions Low Vision Rehabilitation Network
(Lions LOVRNET)
5. Train Lions Club members to provide
transportation and in-home follow-up assistance to
low vision patients. CD currently available.
Sponsors
• Lions Clubs
International
Foundation Sight
First Program
• Reader’s Digest
Partners for Sight
Foundation
• Lion MD22
Volunteers
Roles of Lion Volunteers
1. Community Outreach
– Ophthalmologist outreach program (patient
referrals)
– Public education (LEHP and MD22 Low Vision
Education Project, DVD Available 2006!)
– Vision and eye health screening of seniors (LEHP)
– Community resources for people with low vision
Roles of Lions Volunteers
2. Direct Service to People with Low Vision
– Transportation to and from doctors
appointments
– In home follow up
– Troubleshooting patient’s low vision devices
– Assisting with home safety and vision enhancing
modifications
Roles of Lion Volunteers
3. Computer-assisted telephone interviews before and
after provision of clinical services
4. Volunteer staffing of LOVRNET administration
5. Program Sustainability and National Expansion
Lion Volunteer Requirements
Lion volunteers will be required to:
– Complete an on-line Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance
training
– Complete training (online or in class training) in
the area where volunteers will be teaching
patients and providing assistance, and,
– Undergo a background check, (a necessary
requirement since volunteers will be placed in
direct contact with patients)
Lions have liability insurance !!
Leaders Engaging Your Team
Engaging Your Team
Appoint Sight Chairpersons!
•
•
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•
•
District and MD Sight Chairperson
Leadership training
Orientation
Sight Chairperson webpage
Review existing sight projects
Discuss goals and objectives
Develop action plans
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Engaging Your Team
Make Vision a Health Priority!
•
•
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•
Promote the importance of community awareness
Form LEHP in your community
Zone and or Region meetings and conferences
Connect with other chairpersons
Reach out to Lions:
Newsletters
E-mails
Social media
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Serving Your Community
Community Outreach
• Conduct community needs assessment
• Work with professional partners
• Contact civic organizations and places of
worship to reach at-risk populations
• Determine what works – and does not work
in your community
• Publicize - Sight and PR chairs work
together
20
Training of Eye Care Professionals
• Provided by the Lions Vision Research and
Rehabilitation Center at the Johns Hopkins
Wilmer Eye Institute
• Courses online
• Three levels of Professional Training
– Basic (addition of low vision services to existing
private optometry/ophthalmology practices and
home health agencies)
– Secondary (low vision specialists)
– Tertiary (private and state blind rehab agencies)
Lions LOVRNET Levels of Training
1. Low Vision Clinicians
– Optometrists
– Ophthalmologists
2. Low Vision Therapists
– Occupational Therapists
– Rehabilitation Therapists
3. Lion Volunteers
– Local Lions club members providing direct service
and public education interviews
Certified Online Professional Education Courses
for Low Vision Rehabilitation Professionals:
– “Introduction to Ocular Anatomy”
– “OT: Optics for Therapists”
– “Visual Functioning and Measurement”
– “Documentation and Coding for Low Vision
Therapy”
– “Basic Low Vision Evaluation”
Online Courses for Lion
Volunteers
• “HIPAA Compliance Training for LIONS”
• “Computer Assistive Interviewing Low
Vision Patients ”
• “Role of the Lion as a Driver and Guide”
LOVRNET Time Lines
• Project start 11/1/2013
• Official kick off June 10, 2014
• Year 1: recruitment of service providers and Lion
volunteers/education of service providers, Lions, and
public/pilot testing LOVRNET systems,
• Year 2: full program implementation
• Year 3: program continuation and evaluation, begin
implementing sustainability plan and begin
expanding program to areas outside MD 22
Lions LOVRNET
Project Administration and Training Facilities
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM)
3345 Washington Blvd
Baltimore, MD
Lions LOVRNET Governance
• Co-Chairs
– PDG Charlene Travers (Project Director)
– PDG Ken Chew (LCIF Representative)
• Executive Committee
(Oversight of Project Operations)
• Steering Committee
(Oversight of Fiscal and Project Management)
• Advisory Committee
(Represents Lions LOVRNET Stakeholders)
Lions LOVRNET Staff
• Project Manager – Jim Deremeik
(JHULVC)
• Project Administrator – Tanesha
McLeod
• Lions (Volunteers)
Lions LOVRNET Contacts
– Project Administrator, Tanesha McLeod
– 3345 Washington Blvd.
– Baltimore, MD 21227
– (410) 737-2671
– tmcleod@lovrnet.org
– http://www.lionsvision.org
“A Roaring Thank You!”
Direct Service Lion Volunteer
Online Training Course
The Multiple District 22 Lions
LOVRNET
Low Vision Rehabilitation Network
Patient Interviewer Lion Volunteer
Online Training Course
Interviewing Low Vision
Patients for Lions LOVRNET
Robert W. Massof, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Wilmer Eye Institute
Advisory Committee
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Lion PIP Clem Kusiak – LCIF liason
Andy McIver – Blind Industries & Services of MD
Ken Bradley, Amber Robinson – Vision Council
Sue Schaffer – Maryland DORS
Dan Madrid –Delaware Services for the Blind
Brandon Cox – Columbia Lighthouse of the Blind
Lion Jim Hindman – Patient representative
TBN - Clinician representative
TBN - Therapist representative
Lions LOVRNET
Steering Committee
•
•
•
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PDG Charlene Travers/PDG Ken Chew
Co-Chairs
PDG Dick Bloomquist/PCC Rowe Haywood 22A
PCC John Lawrence/PDG Dave Studley
22B
PID Joe Gaffigan/PDG Gary Burdette
22C
PID Ted Reiver
22D
PDG Clare Newcomer/Lion Bob Bullock
22W
PDG Ted Ladd
LVRF Chair
Bob Massof/Jim Deremeik
Advisors
Annual incidence of low vision in
Maryland, Delaware, and D.C.
282
184
294
361
408
2,037
1,624
140
994
58
68
81
1,960
282
401
1,379
60
469
1,939
224
149
135
198
142
Total annual incidence = 14,998
886
53
114
81
Nearly 85% of people who need low vision
rehabilitation are not being served
– Approximately 40% of the
current annual incidence is
being served
– Incorporating the annual death
rate for the population of
people with low vision, the 5year backlog is 18,611
(assuming annual incidence
does not change and people
drop out after 5 years)
– Including the 5-year backlog,
only about 15% of the current
need in MD/DE/DC is being
served
14,000
5-year backlog of unserved patients
Each year, an estimated 5,850
visually impaired patients in
MD/DE/DC region receive low
vision rehabilitation services
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
DE
DC
MD