Special Olympics PEI is currently searching for volunteers willing to assist with a Health Promotion event on February 10th from 8:30-3:30pm (Storm Date February 11th) at the Credit Union Place in Summerside.
Experience within healthcare, students studying in the field, or keen volunteers are welcomed to join; there are volunteer roles during this impactful event for everyone! Special Olympics is reaching out to clinical and public health professionals skilled in helping individuals learn and practice healthy behaviors. The specialized backgrounds and expertise you have to offer can ensure that the Health Promotion reach its maximum potential. We need you to use your special skills and abilities to help change the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Please accept the challenge of empowering our athletes by promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles. As one Health Promotion volunteer recently said, "The athletes thank me for what I do for them, but it is really the athletes who deserve my thanks for what they do for me.” Please share this opportunity within your networks. SOPEI is able to provide lunch/snacks and gas/mileage for people traveling from outside the Summerside area.
This will be our 4th Healthy Athletes event in PEI, and we have provided over 250 individual screenings over the last 3 years throughout 6 different disciplines. There is a clinical director, and SOPEI staff, taking the lead in the organization of the event, however there is a need for volunteers to assist within the screenings in a number of important roles!
About Healthy Athletes
Healthy Athletes is a global initiative dedicated to providing health services and education, through 8 separate disciplines, to Special Olympics athletes. The goal is to change the way health systems interact with people with intellectual disabilities while encouraging healthy lifestyles for Special Olympics athletes and their families. Health Promotion seeks to find the best ways to convey and reinforce key health information to athletes with intellectual disabilities. The objectives of Health Promotion are to: Improve long-term health outcomes for Special Olympics athletes by giving them the information, encouragement, and facilities they need to sustain physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices (health screenings at Games include body mass index and bone mineral density measurements), improve the quality of life and self-image of athletes, provide the athletes the means by which they can work to better their own health and wellbeing. Health Promotion also focuses on such areas as nutrition, sun safety, tobacco avoidance, hygiene and physical activity. Health Promotion uses interactive educational tools and displays, motivational literature and demonstrations to heighten the awareness of athletes, reinforcing the need to improve and maintain an enhanced level of wellness and self-care.
Volunteer Today
If you, or someone you know, are willing to assist in the screenings please contact Matthew McNally at mmcnally@sopei.com.
