ALEXANDRIA, Va.— The Vision Council recently partnered with the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) to sponsor an educational lunch briefing on Capitol Hill titled “Veterans and Low Vision 101: Cost-Effective Solutions Improving the Lives of Our Men and Women in Uniform.” More than 40 Congressional offices attended the one-hour briefing on May 13 to learn more about low vision and how it affects veterans.

Tom Zampieri, PhD, director of Government Relations for the Blinded Veterans Association, informed attendees about the low vision program with the Veterans Affairs Administration and how it impacts veterans. Dale Lervick, OD, owner of Dr. Dale G. Lervick and Associates in Lakewood and Dillon, Colo., a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (FAAO) and an active member of the AOA, discussed low vision care and services from the perspective of an independent eyecare provider. Ken Bradley, CEO of Eschenbach Optik of America, Inc., and chair of The Vision Council’s Low Vision Division, provided attendees with an overview of the current low vision product technologies and illustrated how these assistive devices can make daily tasks easier for low vision veterans.

After the briefing, members of Congress and their staff were invited to view and interact with various low vision products and technologies on-site, which were made available from several members of The Vision Council’s Low Vision Division.