| Black Belt Adult Eye Care Project |
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| The Consortium is administered under the Community Eye Care Service and is designed to provide comprehensive eye examinations in the Alabama Black Belt counties. This project started as a multi-disciplinary approach to vision and healthcare in rural Alabama in 2001 with a research grant from the CDC. When this grant ended funding was obtained thorough other sources and partnerships allowing travel to the Black Belt counties for exams and to provide free glasses. A partnership with county Department of Human Resources and other sponsoring agencies schedules appointments and serves the most needed citizens in the communities (eg: the elderly and individuals that do not have insurance or transportation). Currently 45-60 patients per month are examined in mobile clinics. This project would not continue to exist without the many varied forms of support from the VSRC. On each monthly clinic 16-18 interns are scheduled to provide exams and vision information to patients under the guidance of UAB’s Clinical Associate Professors and Optometry Clinic Coordinator. We have 5-7 other volunteers as part of the monthly teams that provide intake services, fitting of glasses and patient education. We currently have an outstanding volunteer, Shirley Wilson who is the Black Belt Adult Eye Care Clinic Manager setting up and coordinating sites, collecting data and providing administrative services. For more information contact Felton Perry at (205) 934-0875; eiedoc@uab.edu or Shirley Wilson at (205) 934-6723; sjwilson@uab.edu |
| 2014 Summary |