Healthy Vision Month is May, run by the National Eye Institute (NEI), and it's only one of a dozen eye observances that different sponsors schedule across the year. They're easy to mix up: the federal government, Prevent Blindness and Congress each own a piece of the eye calendar. This page lists the observances an optometry or ophthalmology practice can plan around, names the sponsor for each as checked on October 22, 2026, and ties them to the exams and services patients search for, including back-to-school eye exams.
The eye health observances worth planning around
Prevent Blindness publishes a dated 2027 observance calendar (opens in a new tab), which makes eye care one of the few specialties with confirmed dates a year ahead. NEI runs Healthy Vision Month and promotes Glaucoma Awareness Month in January. Congress set Save Your Vision Week in law.
| Observance | 2027 dates | Sponsor | Services to feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glaucoma Awareness Month | January 1–31 | NEI (opens in a new tab), Prevent Blindness | Dilated exams, glaucoma testing |
| AMD & Low Vision Month | February 1–28 | Prevent Blindness | Retina exams, low vision services |
| Save Your Vision Week | First week of March | 36 U.S.C. 138 (opens in a new tab) | Comprehensive exams |
| Workplace Eye Wellness Month | March 1–31 | Prevent Blindness | Computer vision, safety eyewear |
| Healthy Vision Month | May (NEI had not posted a 2027 theme) | NEI (opens in a new tab) | Comprehensive and dilated exams |
| Cataract Month | June 1–30 | Prevent Blindness | Cataract evaluations |
| Dry Eye Month | July 1–31 | Prevent Blindness | Dry eye evaluations |
| Children's Eye Health and Safety Month | August 1–31 | Prevent Blindness | Pediatric exams |
| National Healthy Aging and Vision Month | September 1–30 | Prevent Blindness | Exams for older adults |
| Contact Lens Safety Month | October 1–31 | Prevent Blindness | Contact lens exams |
| Diabetes-related Eye Disease Month | November 1–30 | Prevent Blindness | Diabetic eye exams |
Dates change — verify each year. Even a published calendar can move; recheck each sponsor six to eight weeks ahead.
You may also see "National Eye Exam Month" on lists online. We couldn't trace it to any sponsor or federal source when we checked, so don't build a campaign on it; Children's Eye Health and Safety Month covers the same back-to-school window with a named sponsor.
Demand (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026):
| Search | US searches/mo | Avg. CPC |
|---|---|---|
| eye exam near me | 201,000 | $9.77 |
| pediatric eye doctor near me | 18,100 | — |
| contact lens exam | 8,100 | — |
| healthy vision month | 210 | — |
| national eye exam month | 140 | — |
| childrens eye health and safety month | 140 | — |
The gap is the point. Observance names draw a couple of hundred searches; "eye exam near me" draws 201,000. Use the observance for content and timing, and point your ads at the exam.
Healthy Vision Month
NEI's outreach page says it simply: "May is Healthy Vision Month!" (opens in a new tab) The 2026 theme, "Healthy Lives, Healthy Eyes," connected general health habits to eye health: healthy food, staying active, wearing sunglasses and "regularly getting a dilated eye exam." NEI noted that conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure can raise the risk of some eye diseases.
NEI gives practices ready material on its Healthy Vision Month page (opens in a new tab): sample social media posts and graphics, promotional and newsletter text, handouts, fact sheets, short animated videos and an eye health quiz. Using a federal agency's material saves design time and keeps your claims sourced.
The most useful message for booking comes from NEI's guidance on dilated eye exams (opens in a new tab): "Get a dilated eye exam every 1 to 2 years if you" are over 60, are African American and over 40, or have a family history of glaucoma, and "most people with diabetes or high blood pressure need to get a dilated eye exam at least once a year." That's a sourced, specific reason for a patient to call in May.
Children's Eye Health and Safety Month and back-to-school exams
August is Children's Eye Health and Safety Month. "Prevent Blindness Declares August as Children's Eye Health and Safety Month," (opens in a new tab) and its calendar lists August 1–31, 2027. The observance covers conditions such as amblyopia and strabismus, injury prevention and warning signs of eye problems. ODPHP's August 2024 roundup (opens in a new tab) described it as a time "to promote the importance of protecting children's vision and eye health."
The timing is what makes it valuable: parents are already making back-to-school appointments. A practical August plan:
- Publish in early July a page on what happens at a child's eye exam, so it's indexed before parents start searching.
- Open after-school and Saturday slots for the last three weeks before school starts, and say so on the page.
- Bid on "pediatric eye doctor near me" (18,100 searches a month) in your service area.
- Give school nurses and pediatricians a one-page flyer with your booking link.
Ophthalmology practices with pediatric specialists can run the same plan; our ophthalmology marketing guide covers referral relationships and surgical service pages.
Campaign ideas: exams, contact lens checks and dry eye
Beyond May and August, three observances match services many practices want to grow.
Contact Lens Safety Month (October). Prevent Blindness lists October 1–31, 2027. "Contact lens exam" draws 8,100 searches a month. A short article on what a contact lens exam includes, plus a reminder to existing wearers to book their annual check, fits naturally.
Dry Eye Month (July). If you run a dry eye clinic, July 1–31 gives you a reason to publish a "Is it dry eye?" explainer and open evaluation slots in a slower summer month.
Glaucoma Awareness Month (January). NEI offers a social media library, videos, ready-to-use articles for local media, a presentation toolkit and a "Talk With Your Doctor About Glaucoma" guide. January is quiet for many practices, so it's a good month for dilated-exam reminders.
Illustrative example (fictional practice): "May is Healthy Vision Month. Brightview Eye Care has comprehensive and dilated eye exam appointments this month, including Saturdays. Book online."
Medfy drafts researched articles every week from MedlinePlus and PubMed, approved by the practice before they publish, so each observance can become a scheduled article. The Google Ads management and Meta ads + AI creatives add-ons ($199/month each) can run the matching ads with copy checked against healthcare ad policies. More ideas by channel are in our optometry marketing ideas list and the broader optometry marketing guide.
May is shared with audiologists and speech clinics running Better Hearing and Speech Month and dermatologists running Skin Cancer Awareness Month; NEI's sunglasses advice pairs well with a dermatologist's sun-safety message if you share patients.
Claims and offers to avoid
Eye care advertising runs into a few predictable problems.
Outcome claims. The FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance (opens in a new tab) requires "competent and reliable scientific evidence" for health claims and holds advertisers responsible for implied claims. "Our exam prevents blindness" or "catch glaucoma before it steals your sight" imply outcomes your exam can't promise. Quote NEI on why dilated exams matter instead.
Free exam offers. The FTC's guide on "free" (opens in a new tab) wants all conditions stated "clearly and conspicuously at the outset." Vision plan and medical insurance contracts may also restrict discounts or free services; check yours, and ask your compliance lead about any offer aimed at Medicare or Medicaid patients.
Implying a condition. Meta's personal attributes policy (opens in a new tab) rejects ads that imply the viewer has a medical condition. "Is your diabetes affecting your eyes?" follows the pattern Meta rejects; "Diabetic eye exams available this November" doesn't.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm how it applies to your practice with a qualified advisor.
Measuring the campaign
Measure each observance against the same month last year as well as the month before, so normal seasonal swings don't read as campaign results.
- Exams booked by type: comprehensive, pediatric, contact lens, dry eye.
- Calls, forms and booking clicks from the campaign page and your Google Business Profile.
- Search impressions for "eye exam" and "eye doctor" terms in Search Console.
- Cost per booked exam for paid search, using the $9.77 average CPC for "eye exam near me" as a starting benchmark.
Medfy's first-party analytics count calls, forms, booking clicks and directions, and its Google reporting puts Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile in one view. If you want a baseline first, a free marketing audit scores your website, SEO, Google listing, AI visibility, social and ads. The full year across specialties is in the health awareness calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When is Healthy Vision Month?
Every May. The National Eye Institute's outreach page says "May is Healthy Vision Month!" and NEI publishes sample social media posts, graphics, newsletter text, handouts and short videos for it. The 2026 theme was "Healthy Lives, Healthy Eyes," about how overall health habits protect vision. NEI had not posted a 2027 theme when we checked in October 2026, so confirm it each spring.
When is Children's Eye Health and Safety Month?
August. Prevent Blindness, which declares the observance, lists it for August 1 to 31, 2027 on its dated observance calendar. It covers childhood eye conditions such as amblyopia and strabismus, eye injury prevention and warning signs of vision problems. Because it lines up with back-to-school, it's the natural month for pediatric eye exam campaigns and school-supply-season reminders to book before classes start.
How can an optometry practice use awareness months?
Pick three or four observances that match services you want to fill: Healthy Vision Month in May for comprehensive exams, Children's Eye Health and Safety Month in August for pediatric exams, Contact Lens Safety Month in October for lens checks, and Dry Eye Month in July if you run a dry eye clinic. Give each one an article, a booking page and a modest search budget.
What eye health topics do patients search for?
Mostly finding care: "eye exam near me" draws about 201,000 US searches a month and "pediatric eye doctor near me" about 18,100. Content questions follow, such as how often to get a dilated exam, what a contact lens exam includes and whether dry eye is treatable. Answer them with sources like the National Eye Institute and MedlinePlus, and link each article to booking.