What is Healthy Athletes?

Studies show that participation in a Special Olympics program can have serious health benefits, including an increase in average life expectancy of 2.5 years, compared to those who do not participate in Special Olympics. Participating in our sports has also been proven to reduce the risk of diabetes by 15% and depression by 49%. 

Special Olympics Healthy Athletes program lets us deliver free health screenings to many of our athletes, as we try to overcome  barriers preventing people with IDD from getting proper medical treatment. These screenings are held in eight separate disciplines, each with a different medical background and focus on a certain aspect of health. These include programs that look at podiatry (Fit Feet); physical therapy (FUNFitness); hearing (Healthy Hearing); healthy living and promoting healthy lifestyle choices (Health Promotion); optometry (Opening Eyes); physical health (MedFest); mental health (Strong Minds); and dentistry (Special Smiles).  

She added that audiologists volunteering with Special Olympics will check athletes in their ear canals, looking for wax, infections, or undiagnosed problems such as certain body parts not having the right shape to work smoothly. If the volunteers come across an athlete whose ear problems cannot be fixed on-site, they recommend going to a doctor, drawing from a list of audiologists across the province who have been proven they can fairly treat patients with disabilities. 

This is just one example of how Healthy Athletes programs work in all of Special Olympics Canada’s 12 Provincial and Territorial Chapters. They are not just a vital point of access to medical checkups for our athletes, but they also provide opportunities for the people who volunteer to help out at these events. 

 A dental assistant from Ontario—Sophya Sidhu—said she was inspired to pursue her career in part because of Special Olympics. As an undergrad student, she held a survey asking athletes to identify parts of their health they struggle with the most. When that survey pointed to a huge amount of athletes struggling to take care of their teeth, Sophya wanted to get a background in oral health so she could volunteer at our Special Smiles screenings. 

 “I realized this is pretty serious,” she said, “this is a career.”  

Sophya said she is still going to school, and works at the Middlesex London Public Health Unit, caring for patients from all walks of life. 

 Outside of screenings, Healthy Athletes partners with local schools and researchers to study the poorly understood medical needs of people with IDD. Some of these studies help us determine where Canadian healthcare practitioners do not treat patients with IDD as fairly or effectively as they do other people, before suggesting ways to fix the issue. Other research  may answer questions about parts of disability-related healthcare that are not well understood. 

As an example, Special Olympics Nova Scotia are working on a study focusing on women with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In partnership with Special Olympics Canada and Dr. Laura St. John—a researcher out of the University of Calgary—they found many women with IDD are unable to afford properly fitting bras, and settle for underwear that is either too tight or too loose. This leads to a large amount of possible health issues. Special Olympics Nova Scotia also found that women with IDD are not often taught how to check themselves for signs of breast cancer, even when they reach a certain age where they are at a much higher risk of getting this deadly disease. 

 Rachel Skanes, a Special Olympics Nova Scotia employee who works in her province’s Healthy Athletes program, said this research has lead them  to develop new outreach and support. The Nova Scotia Healthy Athletes program has started giving female athletes free custom-fitted bras designed for their needs, and free training on how to examine themselves for signs of breast cancer.