The Connecticut Association of Optometrists (CAO), is the professional association of optometry in Connecticut and is affiliated with the American Optometric Association. The CAO represents approximately 350 Connecticut optometrists. In 2007 we celebrated the one hundred year anniversary of our state association which has been dedicated to protecting the visual well being, and improving the quality of life of our patients through optometric care.
The Mission of the Connecticut Association of Optometrists is to serve its members by advancing the profession of optometry through professional development, advocacy, and public awareness.
The Association seeks to accomplish this mission by:
Enhancing the eye health and visual welfare of the people of Connecticut by assuring access to and promotion of the highest standards of professional and ethical primary optometric care.
Encouraging advanced levels of education, enhancement of diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities and accountability to the profession and the public.
Promoting optometry as the primary eye and vision care profession.
Providing the resources necessary to sustain and enhance the profession and its members and to educate and assist the public in understanding and evaluating quality eye care and the vision process.
Nurturing a relationship of cooperation and camaraderie among optometrists and other professionals (health care providers, educators, legislators and others) with the general well being of the public as its main concern.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) represents more than 32,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and paraoptometric assistants and technicians in more than 6,600 communities across the country and in foreign countries.
The association was founded in 1898 and maintains offices in St. Louis, MO and metropolitan Washington, DC. Principal among the association's several missions is to improve the quality and availability of eye/vision care for all Americans. To help achieve this mission, the association helps its members conduct their practices in accordance with the highest standards of patient care and efficiency; and represents the optometric profession to government and other organizations related to health care.
