Community outreach creates avenues for vision care access

For many, good eyesight is a given—it’s as simple as getting an eye exam and following a provider’s guidance. But for people who are uninsured, the expense of an eye exam and new glasses can be prohibitive. Community-based outreach programs that lower or eliminate costs can make a world of difference for economically disadvantaged communities.  

Meron Fitta, O.D., has taken this mission to heart. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s in biological sciences and a minor in global poverty, she pursued a career in optometry at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University. She joined the University of Houston College of Optometry in 2022 as a clinical assistant professor, where she teaches the Community Health Optometry course, serves as an attending faculty member, and oversees vision screening and outreach efforts.  

Dr. Fitta has a personal view of community outreach, influenced by her own experiences. As the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, her interest in public health was sparked during a trip to Ethiopia in middle school, when she visited family living in a remote area that was not directly accessible by car and lacked both running water and electricity.  

“That was a monumental trip for me. I had a lot of guilt for the privilege that I have here in the U.S.,” Dr. Fitta says. “Seeing that my cousins didn’t have access to the things I took for granted made me want to help people living in similar conditions, and that’s where my interest in public health came from.”  

Her commitment to public health has created numerous opportunities: in just the past year, Dr. Fitta has coordinated vision screenings at over 40 organizations and served more than 3,500 patients. Her fundraising efforts have netted more than $80,000 in grants to provide vision screenings and glasses for uninsured patients. As a graduate of the AOA Leadership Institute, Dr. Fitta is leveraging her experience to establish long-term partnerships with city and county agencies, nonprofits, and clinics, providing access to important eye care.  

Outside of her outreach efforts, she’s also influencing the next generation of optometrists through her Community Health Optometry course and community vision screening events that she organizes and leads four days a week during the fall and spring semesters. She explains how and why she is working on behalf of the disadvantaged of Houston.  

Who do you serve during your events?  

We see quite a wide range of folks. We visit senior living homes, community centers and even some Early Start or Head Start programs. Community centers make up the majority of our visits, and the people we see are often also there for other services, such as getting help with their taxes or visiting consignment shops. It’s a diverse array of individuals, and we intend to keep it that way so we can serve our entire Houston community.  

How does your community health optometry course differ from other classes?  

We focus on the factors that affect the patient outside of the exam chair. Our students learn about nonmedical drivers of health and how 80% of health outcomes are based on these factors. Where we live, work, our transportation or education options—those are the sorts of things that we need to think about when we are caring for our patients.  

It’s one thing to know how to diagnose a patient, but how do you get them to your clinic? And how do you ensure they can follow through with treatment? These sorts of questions are critical because they directly impact health outcomes. We also highlight the importance of interprofessional collaboration. Through a grant with the UH College of Nursing, we work together to care for patients facing housing insecurity. 

Are there any examples of how the community outreach program has profoundly impacted a patient?  

Absolutely. We were set up at a church for a vision screening and had just wrapped up when the pastor asked us to wait a little longer. One of her new church members was on her way—she had significant trouble seeing, and the pastor had not been able to find any help for her. When she arrived, we examined her and found that she had advanced cataracts—she was beyond chart vision and could only count fingers. She was new to Texas, uninsured, and didn’t know where to turn for care. 

We connected her with our clinic, where we were able to offer her a comprehensive eye exam. I performed the exam myself and was able to refer her to our surgery center for cataract surgery. She is now seeing 20/20. She was so grateful we stayed.