This project is supported by the French subsidiary of L'OCCITANE en Provence.
Context
In France, access to phtalmological care remains difficult: complexity of the care pathway, refusal of new patients by a large nulber of ophtalmologists, very long waiting times, excessive cost of glasses. To these barriers is added the lack of staff within the School Medicine, which struggles to carry out visual screenings, particularly in the Priority Education Networks. however, wearing glasses could reduce te risk of school failure by 44%. Thus, 25¨% of French people have alreday given up care for financial reasons. This is why the L'OCCITANE Foundation supports the PlanVue Project, deployed by Helen Keller Europe.
Supported Project
In 2023-2024, L'OCCITANE France is supporting Helen Keller Europe and her "Plan Vue" program inspired by ChildSight®, an initiative carried out in many countries.
The projectaims to raise awareness, screen, treat and monitor over time the visual impairment of schoolchildren in priority areas of the cities of Nanterre and Aubervilliers.
PlanVue 2023-2024 is composed of 5 distinct phases:
- Awareness is aimed at students in the form of edutainment workshops set up by HKIE and teachers, at teachers in the form of training in the identification of visual disorders and tools via sessions led by Crée Ton Avenir and the provision of educational resources on an online platform, and finally to parents in the form of awareness raising during back-to-school meetings, parent cafés and a program information booklet.
- Identification consists of testing the eyesight of students in schools in partnership with the C.A.D.E.T., an association of professional and local orthoptists, with the support of school medicine.
- Then, PlanVue accompanies the families to the medical examination, where partner ophthalmologists diagnose the students identified. A treatment is then prescribed, either for glasses or for other care (for example, referral to the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital for serious cases).
- Families are accompanied to partner opticians for treatment in the event of a refractive error, and are provided with a pair of glasses with no remainder to pay. The others are referred to a competent health professional
- Finally, the impact evaluation makes it possible to identify local needs, measure the impact of the program and identify areas for improvement.
Some Figures
Budget 130,000 euros
Goal 3,695 beneficiaries
History of the Partnership
Helen Keller Europe works with local communities to break long-lasting cycles of poverty. By providing the essentials for good health, as well as balanced nutrition and eyecare, the association helps millions of people create positive and lasting changes in their own lives. Helen Keller Europe operates in 21 countries, in Africa and Asia, but also in the United States and France, where the PlanVue program is developed in Nanterre in schools.
