Three-day event brings together patients, care partners, and
public health champions to advance the goals of the Prevent
Blindness ASPECT (Advocacy, Support, Perspective, Empowerment,
Communication, and Training) Patient Engagement Program
CHICAGO, May 7, 2024
/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Prevent Blindness, the nation's leading
nonprofit eye health and safety organization, will be hosting the
ASPECT Patient Engagement and Advocacy Summit, May 14-16, 2024, at the Madison Hotel in
Washington, D.C. The Summit will
bring together ASPECT (Advocacy, Support, Perspective, Empowerment,
Communication, and Training) Patient Engagement Program graduates
(eye health patients and their allies), and program sponsors.
"We are thrilled to expand the program this
year to offer new opportunities for advocates to learn more about
how they can use their unique voice for vision," said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent
Blindness.
As part of the event, Prevent Blindness will also hold its 19th
Annual Eyes on Capitol Hill legislative day, providing participants
with the opportunity to meet elected officials and their staff to
discuss important public policy and federal funding requests.
Founded in 2020, the ASPECT Patient Engagement Program at
Prevent Blindness aims to equip participants with knowledge,
skills, and confidence to become advocates for vision and eye
health at the individual, peer-to-peer, community, state, and/or
national levels.
The ASPECT Patient Engagement and Advocacy Summit is generously
supported by Sustaining Level Partners Amgen, Genentech, and
Novartis. Apellis, Astellas, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Kirin,
and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals are Premier Level Partners.
Supporting Level Partners include Alexion, Alkeus Pharmaceuticals,
the AR and JR Peacock Trusts, BioCryst, Biotechnology Innovation
Organization (BIO), Glaukos, Spark Therapeutics, and Viridian.
The ASPECT Patient Engagement and Advocacy Summit will include a
variety of educational sessions and group exercises on topics such
as:
- Use of storytelling as a therapeutic
tool.
- Identity and self-stigma.
- How we can use personal stories to
address the mental health impacts of vision loss
- How to address gaps in healthcare
delivery and patient provider communication for those with vision
loss
- The role of health and wellness in
independence for the visually impaired and blind community
- How to advocate for inclusive research
for individuals with visual impairment and blindness
Additionally, Eyes on Capitol Hill advocates will specifically
ask elected officials to join the bipartisan, bicameral
Congressional Vision Caucus (CVC), dedicated to strengthening and
stimulating a national dialogue and policy on vision-related
problems and disabilities. The mission of the CVC is to raise
awareness about the increasing number of Americans at risk for
age-related eye diseases and those who face vision loss due to
chronic disease.
"Building on the success of our first ASPECT Patient Engagement
and Advocacy Summit in 2022, we are thrilled to expand the program
this year to offer new opportunities for advocates to learn more
about how they can use their unique voice for vision," said
Jeff Todd, president and CEO of
Prevent Blindness. "We thank all of our program sponsors and
individual donors who make these important events possible."
For more information on the ASPECT program, please visit
PreventBlindness.org/aspect, or contact Julie Grutzmacher, MSW, MPH, Director of Patient
Advocacy and Population Health Initiatives, at
JGrutzmacher@PreventBlindness.org. For information on Prevent
Blindness advocacy efforts, please visit
Advocacy.PreventBlindness.org, or contact Sara Brown, Director of Government Affairs, at
SBrown@PreventBlindness.org.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading
volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting
blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of
vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of
people each year through public and professional education,
advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and
patient service programs and research. These services are made
possible through the generous support of the American public.
Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is
committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more
information, visit us at PreventBlindness.org, and follow us on
Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Media Contact
Sarah Hecker, Prevent Blindness,
312.363.6035, shecker@preventblindness.org,
PreventBlindness.org
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SOURCE Prevent Blindness