Healthy Athlete Program: Improving the Lives of Special Olympics Iowa Athletes

Healthy Athletes is a screening program offered during the Summer Games and Mid-Winter Tournament to improve greater overall health and fitness for the athletes.  Many athletes and their families encounter difficulty in locating medical professionals who have training in treating individuals with intellectual disabilities. As a result, many athletes do not receive appropriate medical care. Special Olympics Iowa coordinates the generous efforts of numerous medical professionals across the state donating medical services in:

• Special Smiles - Dental screening, oral education & preventative products.
• Opening Eyes - Vision and eye health tests, referrals and products.
• Healthy Hearing - Hearing screening and offers recommendations.
• Fit Feet - General foot evaluations of skin, nails, and bones.
• Fun Fitness - Programs to make fitness & wellness a normal lifestyle.
• Health Promotions - Lifestyle surveys, body mass indices, and education.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Delta Dental of Iowa : Special Smiles

Special Olympics Fights Against Institutional Discrimination in Medical and Dental Community

Special Olympics has released research on the barriers to health care for people with intellectual disabilities.  The research clearly shows that dentists and doctors are not providing access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities have some the worst health care of any minority population.

Groundbreaking studies commissioned by Special Olympics found disturbing evidence that individuals with intellectual disabilities face widespread discrimination in their access to health care, and physicians, dentists and other health professionals are not receiving adequate training to treat them.

"The health of people with intellectual disabilities is much worse than that of people without disabilities," states Mary Helen Witten of the CDC."  Physicians, nurses and other health care professionals are beginning to recognize that people with intellectual disabilities often do not have their health problems addressed and are often in need of additional health care.  Unfortunately medical and dental schools often don't offer training or courses that prepare students to address health needs of this population."

To view the rest of this article, click here.