The Steps to Setting Up a Screening Event

You should contact the school or organization you wish to hold a screening at through a personal meeting or via telephone or email.

Once the school/organization agrees to allowing you to hold a screening event at their location, we recommend having them sign a letter of agreement in order to confirm the date(s) and time(s) of the event. You will also want to find out the approximate number of children who will be screened.

You can then prepare information packages for the parents which contain information on yourself, your organization (if applicable) and the benefits of photoscreening. You should also include permission slips in the package.

Cooperation from the school/organization cannot be emphasized enough. They should agree to provide staff support during the screening to walk children back and forth from their classrooms or other locations to the screening area, keep children comfortable with the process, match each child with their correct permission slip/identification form, and assist in any other way necessary.

Once you have contracted to do vision screenings at a club, daycare, mall, health fair or a school, these are some steps you can take to make your screening event successful.

1. Having a designated contact at the location is important for successfully coordinating the event.  It is also very useful to have a meeting with the organization staff prior to the screening so they understand what will be happening during the event. This also helps the screener(s) to know the location of the event, how long it takes to travel there, and any other logistical information.


2. Ask the event organization if there are any venues you can attend to describe photoscreening prior to the event. Attending parent teaching association meetings or school open houses is a great way to increase awareness of vision disorders in children and heighten the need for early vision screening with the PhotoScreener™. It is also an excellent opportunity to answer any questions that parents or the host organization staff might have about the screening. You can also hand out permission slips at these meetings if the host organization is amenable to that.


3. If you are holding an event at a school or daycare, an excellent opportunity for handing out flyers and permission slips is during the normal drop-off and pick-up hours for children. Ask permission of the school first before doing this.


4. You may create your own forms for the event, or you may download forms from our web site and modify as you wish.  Forms available on our site are:
• Letter of agreement
• Introduction letter
• Parent permission slips
• Information flyers
• Bear poster to inform parents of the date(s) and time(s) of the screening(s)
• A pre-written letter from the principal or headmaster to parents explaining the event that can be copied onto the school’s letterhead (Coming Soon...)
• Pass/referral form (Coming Soon...)
• Teacher letter (Coming Soon...)
• Event day checklist

Below is a timeline prior to the event that we have found to be helpful.

30 to 60 days prior to the screening
You should contact the school/organization and set up meeting to explain to them in detail the logistics of the screening event. You can also use this time to determine who well the vision screening event is being received by parents and how successful the school/organization has been in collecting permission slips. If you find you do not have a great response, you can take action to help increase parent participation, or you may decide to postpone the event to a future date.

30 days to two weeks prior to the screening
Contact the school/organization to arrange for collection of the permission slips. At this point you can determine the amount of film you will need, and if you need additional help from the staff or an assistant to work with all of the children. If you are affiliated with more than one screener, you may also at this time decide if you need a second or third screener at the event.  You should also order any other supplies that you will need for the event.

One week prior to the screening
This is a good time to contact your local paper or local television and radio news stations to broadcast the date and time for your screening events. Many media outlets will do this at no charge. You should also contact the school/organization to confirm the date and time of the event.

Two to three days prior to the screening
You should contact the school/organization for a brief meeting and walk-through to make sure everyone is prepared for the event. Any problems that arise can be addressed at this time.

The day of the screening

• You should arrive at least an hour prior to the screening for staff introductions and to meet the children, as well as set up the screening area and make any necessary adjustments.
• We recommend that you wear a name badge for identification.
• You should wear comfortable slacks and a shirt.
• Every effort should be made to ensure the children enjoy the process.
• Three to four children should be brought into the screening room, accompanied by someone they know, such as a parent or staff person. The lights of the room need to be dimmed, and the children should be seated on child-sized chairs.
• Should a parent and/or staff person not be available to assist you, then you should bring another person with you to assist.
• As you take each photo, examine them for readability; if needed, take a second photo of the child.
• Write the child’s name on the back of each photo and staple it to the permission slip (if there are multiple photos of one child, they should all be stapled together).
• You should not give out any screening result information to school staff or to parents.
• Permission slips and any other information forms for your screening event should be forwarded to your interpreter. You should make copies of the forms with photos prior to shipment or mailing.

After the Screening

• You should call the school/organization to find out how the screening went.
• We recommend that you send letters to the school/organization and parents containing screening results within two weeks of the event.
• Each parent should receive a letter stating whether their child passed or if they should be referred for a comprehensive eye examination by a medical doctor. We have found that you should never use the word “fail.”
• Parents of children who are referred should receive up to two phone calls to allay any fears, answer questions, explain results, and make recommendations for follow up as requested (no diagnostic information is given to parents).
• You should ask the parents of referred children if they will give their doctor permission to forward the examination results to you.
• You should keep original photos on file