To support your library’s health programming strategy, here are August health programing ideas – brought to you by The Pulse, part of the Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center. Keep looking for us on the first of each month to find resources for three months out.
Still working on spring and summer? Check out May: American Stroke Month / National High Blood Pressure Education Month, June: National Men’s Health Month, and July: Women’s Health Month. Is your library focusing on National UV Safety Month this August? Check out our August 2011 library health programming ideas.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) only one in three children in America have ever received eye care services before age six, yet more than 12.1 million school aged children have some form of vision problem.
August is a month where eye-damaging UV rays are still strong and school is just around the corner – the perfect time for Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month. Put the spotlight on Children’s Eye Health and Safety in your library this August with these free resources and with information from Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center:
- Quick and Easy: printable coloring pages for children and helpful print-ready information for adults.
- Featured Resources: books for children and their caregivers and links to reliable online information
- Book Club: children, teen, and multi-generational book club ideas
- Tie Ins: ideas for library programs
- Community Resources: local agencies to contact
- Publicity Resources: free resources to help you publicize National Men’s Health Month at your library through social networking sites or traditional printed materials
- Fun Stuff: links to interactive websites and apps
Quick and Easy
From the National Institute of Health’s National Eye Institute:
- See All You Can See. A free activity booklet for ages 6-8. Full-color activity books are also available for a low cost.
- Wild About Healthy Vision. A free activity booklet for ages 9-12. Full-color activity books are also available for a low cost.
- Make Every Day a Healthy Vision Day: 31 Fun Eye-Related Facts for Children
- Your Eyes are the Window to Your Health. Free bookmarks to print in both English and Spanish.
More Quick and Easy Printables:
- Dog Eye Doctor coloring page
- Eye-C-U Robot paper craft
- Eye Didn’t Know That coloring pages - from Transitions and Scholastic, Inc.
- Eye Illusions coloring page from Crayola
- Groovy Goggles
- Glasses Craft
- Parts of the Human Eye activity page from Crayola
- Seeing Eye Dog coloring page
- Vision Aids Crossword Puzzle: Send your teens on an Internet scavenger hunt to find the answers to this crossword.
- Visit to the Eye Doctor coloring page
Featured Resources
Books
Ultra Violet (UV) Information from the National Weather Service
- What IS the Ultra Violet Index?
- What is today’s UV forecast in my state?
- What is tomorrow’s UV forecast in my city?
- Are there any UV alerts in my area?
- What is today’s UV index Forecast in other countries?
Organizations to Contact
Free information and resources:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fact Sheet for Parents – Vision Loss; Vision Health Initiative
- Children’s Glaucoma Foundation
- eyeSmart: eye health resources from The American Academy of Ophthalmology
- Guide Dogs for the Blind
- Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC)
- Institute for Families – Support and information to families of children with visual impairment.
- March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
- National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAVPI)
- National Eye Health Education Program: NEHEP supports collaboration among eye health professionals, healthcare providers, patients, and the public.
- National Family Association for the Deaf-Blind
- National Federation of the Blind
- National Institutes of Health – Medline Plus – Eye Diseases – Children
- National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
- National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation
- National Organization of Parents with Blind Children (NOPBC)
- Sight for Students - a Vision Service Plan (VSP) program that provides free vision exams and glasses to low-income, uninsured children
- Unite for Sight: a non-profit global health delivery organization that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness.
- The Vision of Children Foundation (VFC)
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- WonderBaby.org - a project funded by Perkins School for the Blind, dedicated to helping parents of young children with vision impairments as well as children with multiple disabilities.
Book Club
Observe Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month this August by choosing one of these vision related books or movies for your children, teens, or multi-generational discussion group:
- Arthur’s Eyes by Marc Brown. Arthur the aardvark, from the popular PBS children’s series, adjusts to his first pair of glasses. Activity Guide, DVD information.
- The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. With more than one movie version, only 118 pages, suitable for both teens and adults, and a great read-along, this script is an excellent book club choice.
- Book Preview
- 1962 Movie Information and DVD Availability
- 1980 Movie Information and DVD Availability
- Discussion and Activity Ideas
- Helen Keller’s biography, The Story of my Life
Community Resources
- Guide Dogs for the Blind: Request a speaker near you.
- National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Find a library near you at this website or by calling 1-888-NLS-READ (1-888-657-7323).
- Use Vision Aware to find eye doctors, vision rehabilitation agencies and other local services in your state.
Publicity Resources
- Eye Facts for Children from the National Eye Institute (In calendar format, but the facts could be used as daily twitters throughout the month.)
- UV Index Clip Art Collection Files and Clip Art Overview and Notes from the World Health Organization
- UV Index Widget to add to your library’s website from the EPA
- From the National Eye Institute (NEI)
- Badges and Banners to add to your website
- Customizable News Release
- Drop in Articles
- Healthy Eye Tips
- Financial Assistance for Eye Care: a full-color PDF from the NEI with information on organizations offering free eye exams.
- Print public service announcements and other graphics, free and non-copyrighted, from the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP): Diabetic Eye Disease; Glaucoma; Low Vision; ¡Ojo con su visión! or Watch out for your vision!
- Public service announcement scripts, free and non-copyrighted public service announcement scripts from the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP): Diabetic Eye Disease; Glaucoma; Low Vision; ¡Ojo con su visión! or Watch out for your vision!
Fun Stuff
Add these interesting and helpful interactive links to your library’s website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed:
- Kids Quest – Vision Loss and Impairment – from the CDC
- Avoiding Ultraviolet Game - stay away from Ultraviolet and stay alive
- SunGuard Man Matching Game - sun safety in Spanish and English
- Save Your Skin Game - click fast on the sun safety items
- Online Word Search from the EPA
- Smart Sun Safety: Fun in the Sun 101 - interactive quizzes and more from the Skin Cancer Foundation
- UV Level App: Get daily UV levels on your cell phone with this nifty mobile app.
- iGoogle Gadget: stay up to date with the current UV Index
- What’s Your Sun Safety IQ? from the American Cancer Society
