HEALTHY AGING

The Make It OK campaign is an effort for us to help reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illness. It’s a campaign to reduce stigma by increasing understanding and creating a conversation about mental illness.

— Ileana Kniss, director of community relations and development for Peace River Center

such as ideas for what to say and what not to say to individuals who are experiencing mental health problems. Another project that Peace River Center has is Club Success. Kniss elaborates on this program, “Club Success is a place for members – we call them members, not clients because they come willingly – to learn how to integrate back into the community. It helps individuals find a place of belonging. They come, and what they do is called a ‘work order day,’ so they have activities every day that they choose, whether it’s being in the kitchen and learning how to cook, or doing all kinds of different things that people take for granted.” A new Club Success recently opened in Haines City earlier this month. The criteria for acceptance into Club Success is that you must have a diagnosed mental illness and be willing to engage in work opportunities. Peace River Center’s Club Success program serves individuals in Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties. If you are interested in participating in this unique program that is certified by Clubhouse International, call the Peace River Center Access to Care line at (863) 248-3311. Finally, there is the Christmas in July project. “Christmas in July is something that we’ve been doing for a couple of years now to try to help our clients. About 95 percent of our clients live at or below the poverty level, so when you consider the fact that after expenses and medication and such, they don’t have a lot of extra income for extra things. Sometimes it’s as simple as writing journals, undergarments, bed sheets, or just household items, so this allows us to help them with those needs.” Peace River Center receives funding for very specific programming, and it does not allow for additional expenses. In the Children’s Services program, for example, many of the kids need coping mechanisms. Therapists who work with children will help them to develop some coping tools to use, such as a balloon filled with gel to squeeze. Additionally, art therapy is a great tool for individuals suffering from anxiety or depression. As a nonprofit, Peace River Center is unable to provide the supplies for these projects, but they are well used and appreciated in therapy by Club Success members, psychosocial rehab clients and others. If you would like to contribute to Christmas in July, there are drop-off locations at the Community Relations office at 1933 E. Edgewood Drive, Suite #101, and at the Peace River Center Thrift Shoppe, 2934 S. Florida Avenue, both in Lakeland. You can also purchase and send a gift directly through the Peace River Center Amazon Wish List. The direct link for that Wish List is https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3VOFDLBYSVRYM/ ref=hz_ls_biz_ex. HN centralfloridahealthnews.com

August Is Children’s Eye Health/Safety Month

Children require clear and comfortable vision to be successful in school and extracurricular activities. They use their eyes for everything from reading, writing, throwing a ball, using computers, and watching TV. As children advance in school, the demand for clear vision increases because they spend more time reading and learning. Thus, any vision problems should be addressed at an early age to help prevent visual and learning problems.

There are many signs of difficulty with vision that may be more complicated than blurry vision alone. Children may: • Avoid reading • Rub their eyes • Have trouble learning • Experience headaches • Notice that letters float on the page • Have trouble focusing • Experience double or blurry vision Many different conditions can cause the above complaints, including: • Nearsightedness/Farsightedness/Astigmatism • Amblyopia (Lazy/Underdeveloped Eye) • Strabismus (Eye turns) • Eye Focusing Disorders • Eye Teaming Disorders • Eye Tracking Disorders • Eye-Hand Coordination Disorders • Visual Perception Disorders Luckily, many of these visual problems can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, patching, or vision therapy if these conditions are diagnosed early.

Many parents assume that they do not have any visual problems when a child passes their school screening. However, school screenings usually only test distance vision, and may not assess other aspects of the eyes, including near vision, eye teaming, eye focusing, and eye health through dilation. All of these pieces of an eye examination are necessary to ensure that a child has the proper vision to learn appropriately. In addition, children’s eyes are constantly changing and developing, and they may not even notice when problems have started. Visual problems have even been misdiagnosed as learning disabilities and attention deficits. Therefore, if no issues have been noted sooner, the first time a comprehensive eye exam should be completed is at six months of age and continued yearly from age three, unless recommended more frequently by your eye doctor.

At Eye Specialists of Mid-Florida, we strive for excellent care for children and adults of all ages. Please get in touch with me with any questions or concerns. To schedule an eye exam appointment for your child or yourself at any of our eight convenient locations, call us at 800-282-3937 or visit us online at EYESFL.COM.

TINCY THOMAS, O.D.

This column is sponsored by Eye Specialists of Mid-Florida, and the opinions expressed herein may not reflect those of CFHN or of its advertisers. Dr. Tincy Thomas is a board-certified optometrist who sees patients at the Lakeland-Highlands location for Eye Specialists of Mid-Florida. She specializes in primary care optometry, contact lenses, dry eye disease, and pediatric eye care.