Everyone has a role to play in promoting eye health and safety. The following list provides ideas for activities you can do to observe Healthy Vision Month and educate others about the importance of taking care of their eyes. No activity is too small and every effort can make a big difference!

Ideas for:

• National and community organizations
• Healthcare professionals
• Employers
• Parents and teachers
• Friends and family members

How National and Community Organizations Can Get Involved

1. Include information about eye health and who is at higher risk of various eye diseases in your newsletter or on your website during Healthy Vision Month. Use one of the NEI drop-in articles or print PSAs
2. Hang posters about eye health in your hallways or other public spaces.
3. Partner with your local Lions Club or invite local eye care professionals to offer free eye exams during the month of May. Keep track of how many people have been examined for free, and submit a press release to your local paper about Healthy Vision Month, eye health, and the support provided by local eye care professionals or Lions Club.
4. Add a link to the Healthy Vision Month Website
5. E-mail the NEI Healthy Eyes Bulletin to your listserves and colleagues to help people learn more about taking care of their eyes.
6. Start an e-card campaign by encouraging employees, members of your organization, and people in the community to send the NEI e-cards to friends and loved ones.
7. Issue a proclamation in May about the importance of encouraging people to schedule a comprehensive dilated eye exam with an eye care professional. Proclaim "Healthy Vision (Day, Week, or Month)" in your community.
8. Partner with local manufacturers, construction companies, laboratories, hospitals, and other groups with employees at higher risk for eye injuries to educate workers about proper eye safety practices and the importance of protective eyewear. Arrange a workplace eye safety event and use the NEI Workplace Eye Safety PowerPoint Presentation and Speaker's Guide or distribute eye safety magnets or stickers to employees.
9. Order publications and other resources from the NEI online catalog and make them available at local health clinics, social events, meetings, educational settings, or after faith services. You can also provide resources to local community centers and libraries to make available throughout May.
10. Sponsor a table or booth to distribute eye health education materials, such as the Make Vision a Health Priority handout, at local community events such as health fairs, festivals, sporting activities, and walk-a-thons.
11. Ask local hardware stores to print messages on sales receipts or to make in-store announcements about the importance of using protective eyewear during the month of May.
12. Work with local senior centers, YMCAs, and other organizations to educate older adults about eye health and the importance of comprehensive dilated eye exams. Use NEI resources from the See Well for a Lifetime Toolkit to conduct a series of educational sessions.

How Healthcare Professionals Can Get Involved

1. Submit an article to your local paper during Healthy Vision Month to educate your community about eye health. Use one of the NEI drop-in articles.
2. Volunteer to give a talk to coaches and parents of local Little League teams about how to prevent eye injuries in their children this summer and year-round. Use the NEI Sports-Related Eye Injury Presentation and Speaker's Guide and hand out the NEI Eye Safety Calendar to children.
3. Summer is the time for home improvement projects! Partner with a local hardware store to give a talk to their customers about the importance of protective eyewear when doing work that could injure the eyes. Ask the stores to print messages on sales receipts or to make in-store announcements about the importance of using protective eyewear.
4. Work with local senior centers, assisted-living facilities, or other community organizations that serve older adults to inform people about eye health and the importance of comprehensive dilated eye exams as they age. Use resources from the See Well for a Lifetime Toolkit to conduct a series of educational sessions for residents and hand out copies of the Medicare benefit card.
5. Hand out eye health resources at any event in which you participate. Brochures and booklets on a variety of eye health topics are available from the NEI online catalog . The majority of resources are available in English and Spanish.
6. Post one of the NEI drop-in articles on your blog or website.
7. Place NEI materials about eye health in your waiting room, local clinics, and health centers.
8. Add the NEI Healthy Eyes Widget (Note: include hyperlink) to your website.
9. Record the NEI radio PSAs PDF* about the importance of eye health and play them for callers who are placed on hold when they call your office.

How Employers Can Get Involved

1. Send the NEI Healthy Eyes Bulletin or a company-wide e-mail in early May, announcing Healthy Vision Month, reminding employees of the eye care benefits available to them (if they elected it) through their company health plan.
2. Encourage employees at higher risk for work-related eye injuries to use protective eyewear. Make eye protection and face guards readily available to these employees and distribute the NEI Eye Safety at Work magnet or stickers .
3. Put up NEI posters on eye safety in key locations reminding employees of the requirement to use eye protection when performing dangerous tasks.
   
   Hold a brown-bag seminar during lunchtime with local eye care professionals about common eye diseases, their risk factors, and the importance of comprehensive dilated eye exams. This offers a nice opportunity for local eye care providers to introduce themselves to the community.
4. If your business employs workers at high risk for occupational eye injuries, host a mandatory workshop on eye injury prevention and the importance of protective eyewear. Use the NEI Workplace Eye Safety Presentation and Speaker's Guide.
5. Hang up NEI posters or post announcements about the importance of eye exams in elevators, hallways, and lunchrooms.
6. Add a link to the NEI Healthy Eyes Website to your company website or intranet.
7. Establish a healthy vision information center in your office common areas, such as employee kitchens, cafeterias, or lounges. A variety of resources on eye health are available from the NEI online catalog. The majority of materials are available in English and Spanish.

How Parents and Teachers Can Get Involved

1. Ask a local eye care professional to talk to your class, scouting troop, or other youth group about eye health and the importance of sports-related protective eyewear. Hand out the See All You Can See or Wild About Healthy Vision activity books from NEI for children to take home with them.
2. Schedule a field trip to an eye care professional's office. Hand out the NEI Eye Facts For Children Poster to students after the field trip.
3. Download the NEI Sports-Related Eye Injury Presentation and Speaker's Guide and volunteer to talk to parents and coaches at local youth sporting leagues about the importance of protective eyewear.
4. Visit the NEI Sports Eye Injury and Protective Eyewear Website for more information on sports-related eye injuries and what you can do to prevent them.
5. Ask students to poll family members on how long it has been since they've had a comprehensive dilated eye exam. Assign students to collate the results to find out how long, on average, people go without having an eye exam. Encourage students to send an NEI e-card to family members who have not recently had an exam.
6. Discuss eye safety and the importance of using protective eyewear in high-risk sporting activities. For younger audiences, pass out the NEI Sports Eye Safety Coloring Pages PDF* after the discussion.
7. Visit the NEI See All You Can See Website with your children and work with them to complete the educational activities on the site.
8. Talk to the PTA at your children's school about the importance of teaching students about eye health and safety. Hand out the NEI Eye Safety Calendar PDF* for parents to share with their children.

How To Involve Friends and Family Members

1. Send an e-card or text message to remind friends and family to go have an eye exam. Add messages such as "May is a beautiful month. I know you want to see it all! Schedule an eye exam today!" to your e-mail signature line.
2. Talk to members of your family about their eye health history. Encourage them to make an appointment for a comprehensive dilated eye exam if they haven't had one recently.
3. If you have a friend or family member who is at higher risk for vision loss, order a free booklet or brochure for them from the NEI catalog.
4. Mother's Day is in May. Show mom or grandmother you love her by taking her in for an eye exam.
5. Buy your favorite do-it-yourselfer a pair of protective eyewear to safeguard their vision while working on home projects or yard work.
   
   Make an appointment for your own eye exam if you haven't had one recently. Bring along a friend or family member.
6. When your eye exam is over, tweet or text your best buds to let them know you just had your eyes examined and remind them to do the same.
7. Wear sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection anytime you are outside. Encourage your friends and family members to do the same.
8. Visit the Healthy Eyes Website to learn more about common eye diseases and conditions and encourage friends and family to do the same.
9. Read and follow these tips PDF* for keeping your eyes healthy.