Healthy Athletes®
Our work
In 1997, Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® began offering free health screenings and education to Special Olympics athletes in a welcoming, fun environment. Since then, we have delivered over 2 million free health screenings worldwide and trained more than 260,000 health professionals and students to treat people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Providers take their learned skills back to their practices and provide higher quality health care to people with ID – not just Special Olympics athletes – in their communities.
Healthy Athletes® in New Mexico
Screenings Overview
Special Olympics New Mexico’s Healthy Athletes® initiative provides health screenings free of charge to Special Olympics athletes in the following areas: Opening Eyes (optometry), Special Smiles (dentistry), Fit Feet (podiatry), Fun Fitness (physical therapy), and Health Promotion (better health and well-being). Through Healthy Athletes®, Special Olympics New Mexico gives its athletes the opportunity to see health professionals who have experience in treating individuals with disabilities, providing them access to healthcare that improves their sports performance and quality of their daily life.
When and Where
Screenings typically take place at Special Olympics New Mexico state competitions in the Olympic Village, at the State Summer Games, Four Corners Invitational, and the Holiday Classic competition.
How to Participate
Special Olympics athletes are encouraged to visit Olympic Village before or after they compete so they can participate in each screening. It’s a lot of fun AND encourages athletes to focus on health & wellness
Opening Eyes
67 athletes screened, 20 referred for further treatment. 36 athletes provided with regular prescription glasses.
Special Smiles
100 athletes screened, 25 referred for further treatment, and 100 mouth guards fabricated.
Fit Feet
80 athletes screened, 10 referred for further treatment.
FunFitness
44 athletes screened and 34 referred for further treatment
Health Promotion
117 athletes screened and 99 referred for further treatment.
Strong Minds
55 athletes screened.
Become a Healthy Athletes Volunteer!
Healthy Athletes Disciplines
Fit Feet was founded to evaluate problems of the feet, ankles, lower extremity biomechanics, as well as checking for proper shoe and sock gear.
Many Special Olympics athletes suffer from foot and ankle pain or deformities that impair their performance. Also, athletes are not always fitted with the best shoes and socks for their particular sport. Volunteer health care professionals screen athletes’ feet and ankles for deformities, and also check for proper shoes and socks. They are provided with community referrals as needed and athletes, coaches and families are educated on the proper shoes and socks.
FUNfitness is the comprehensive physical therapy component of the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes initiative. FUNfitness is designed to:
- Assess and improve flexibility, functional strength and balance
- Educate participants, families and coaches about the importance of flexibility, strength and balance
- Provide a hands-on opportunity for participants to learn about physical therapy. Physical therapist assistants, and physical therapist or physical therapist assistant students work during the screening under the direction and supervision of the physical therapist.
FUNfitness also provides “take-away” educational materials for Special Olympics athletes and information for families and coaches about the importance of and methods to improve flexibility, functional strength and balance in sports performance and activities of daily living.
Healthy Hearing
Reduced hearing can have a significant negative impact on a Special Olympic athlete’s ability to respond to directions in training, as well as understand other oral information from coaches, trainers and judges. The safety of the athlete also can be impeded by a hearing loss, as can the athlete’s interpersonal relationships. Screening of hearing is the first step in the process of identifying an athlete’s hearing loss and preventing its negative effects from occurring in sporting and social events.
The purpose of Healthy Hearing is to:
- To screen the hearing of athletes and to notify athletes and their coaches if follow-up care is needed
- Provide corrective (hearing aids) and preventative (custom swim earplugs) services where possible, and
- Study the prevalence of hearing loss in athletes competing in
- Special Olympics events.
Health Promotion conveys and reinforces concepts on healthy living, healthy lifestyle choices, and nation-specific health issues. It 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.
Its goals are to encourage and enhance healthy behaviors; reduce risky behaviors; improve self-efficacy and self-advocacy; and increase the investment of health promotion leaders for people with intellectual disabilities.
The mission of Special Olympics – Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes® is to improve the quality of life for the millions of individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities by optimizing their vision, eye health and visual skills through quality eye care. The objectives of Opening Eyes include:
- Providing screenings to Special Olympics athletes (see schedule of events)
- Educating athletes, parents and coaches about the importance of regular eye care
- Educating and changing attitudes of eye care professionals about the vision care needs of persons with intellectual disabilities worldwide (see Global Vision Care Curriculum, state-of-the-art science and clinical practice guidelines)
- Increasing knowledge of visual and eye health needs of persons with intellectual disabilities through research.
Special Olympics Special Smiles® mission is to increase access to dental care for Special Olympics athletes, as well as all people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Dental screenings are used as a means to increase awareness of the state of the athletes’ oral health for the athletes themselves, as well as their parents and/or caregivers.
Providing solutions to chronic dental problems or providing an athlete with a mouthguard can enhance the athlete’s performance. At a Special Smiles screening, Special Olympics athletes are provided with the following resources:
- Hygiene education to help ensure they are doing an adequate job of brushing and flossing
- “Goody bag” containing toothbrush, toothpaste and floss
- Nutritional education to understand how their diet affects their total health
- List of dentists/clinics in their area who will treat patients with special needs (should they have difficulty finding a dentist)
- Free mouth guards (at most locations) for athletes competing in contact or high-risk sports
One of the primary objectives of Special Smiles is to increase the number of dental professionals who will serve people with intellectual disabilities in their practices and clinics. This is accomplished by encouraging dental students, as well as practicing dentists, to conduct screenings at Special Smiles events. Special Smiles offers AGD and ADA-recognized Continuing Education credits in exchange for their participation. It is a wonderful way to break down the barriers that too often prevent dental care professionals from working with this population.
Strong Minds is an interactive learning activity
focused on developing adaptive coping skills.
Competition provides a natural opportunity
to develop active strategies for maintaining
emotional wellness under stress, such as:
thinking positive thoughts, releasing stress
and connecting with others. Athletes try a
few different active coping strategies as they
move through the stations. Before exiting,
athletes identify the strategies they like best and
volunteers provide them with visual reminders to
use these tools in competition and in daily life.
Volunteer with Healthy Athletes®
Healthy Athletes screenings and activities requires help from health professionals, health students, and other volunteers in the community. If you are interested in learning more and becoming involved in Healthy Athletes please contact Victoria Martinez for more info.