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3 valuable lessons from our 5-year project in China
Read our 3 lessons from Perkins School for the Blind’s collaborative 5-year project with Orbis International in China.
As part of Standard Chartered Bank’s “Seeing is Believing” program, a global initiative to address preventable blindness, Perkins School for the Blind and Orbis International carried out a five-year collaborative project to identify children with visual impairments in four cities in Shanxi province in central China, and to connect them and their families to vision care and educational services.
In an article titled “Collaboration of health and education sectors drives equity for children with complex disabilities in China,” published by Frontier, a peer-reviewed scientific journal in science, technology, and medicine, Perkins and Orbis authors describe the effective collaboration between sectors that improved healthcare and educational opportunities for children with complex disabilities and visual impairment in rural Shanxi province.
Collaboration, mentorship, and leadership
Three key lessons from the project are highlighted in the article that could be replicated on a broad scale with the appropriate public policies in place:
- The value of having doctors and teachers work together, rather than independently of each other, was evident in numerous ways. Doctors and teachers in China welcomed the collaborative process and through it, the two sectors worked cohesively to ensure that every child had equal opportunity for identification, assessment and support.
- The project confirmed how successful home visitation screenings could be in meeting the needs of children with complex disabilities. Invested in structured training and on-the-job mentoring for teachers, Perkins and local partners developed a home visit manual that played a crucial role in guiding teachers’ efforts.
- Another key lesson from the project was the importance of leadership commitment. The dedication and support from key individuals from hospitals and government agencies drove the project’s success and ensured its long-term impact. A broad network of collaborators enabled the reach of a wide audience and supported the implementation of caring for children with complex disabilities.
Appropriate assessment and identification of children with complex disabilities , paired with connecting children and their families with educational services and trained teachers, continues to be a priority in low resource settings around the world. This article sheds light on the partnerships among project collaborators from the health and education sectors that led to widespread project and practice success that have implications for both future practice and public policy.
Igniting change in China and the world
Collaboration of health and education sectors drives equity for children with complex disabilities in China is now available for download. Additionally, the paper can be found published on Frontiers for open-access viewing. Read today to learn more about our partnership for global change!
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