Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Delivering a Global Health Service Utilizing Health Care volunteer

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Special Olympics Healthy AthletesDelivering a
Global Health Service Utilizing Health Care
volunteers

• USPHS Scientific and Training Symposium
• Atlanta, Georgia
• June 1-4, 2009

Rebecca Ashery PhD Special Olympics
International 1133 19th St., NW, Suite
1200 Washington DC 20036 Phone (202)
715-1148 www.specialolympics.org rashery_at_specialol
ympics.org
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Contact us
Please feel free to contact me at Rebecca Ashery
PhD Special Olympics International 1133 19th
St., NW, Suite 1200 Washington DC 20036 Phone
[phone] www.specialolympics.org rashery_at_spe
cialolympics.org
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To the first Games in 1968
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And to the Games of Today
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Building Communities of Acceptance and Inclusion

• The SO Model of Change

Athlete Leadership Self-Advocacy
Communications Engagement
Family Support
Research
Sports
Health
Inclusive Schools
Public Policy
Early Childhood Enrichment
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Health Services Issues Barriers to Care

• The Health System
• Poor coordination of care often due to lack of
  training of primary care providers.
• Little experience interacting with
• individuals with ID
• Little training in management of problems common
  in individuals with ID
• Lower expectations and more pessimistic views
  about individuals with ID.

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Healthy Athletes is Important
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Healthy Athletes

• SCREEN Special Olympics Athletes for health
  issues
• EDUCATE athletes, families, and caregivers.
• REFER to local health practitioners.
• TRAIN health care professionals and students.
• ANALYZE data collected during events.
• ADVOCATE for improved health policies and programs

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Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program
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Global Sponsors

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Lions Clubs International
• Essilor International
• Safilo
• Colgate
• Patterson Dental Supply
• Liberty Protective Eyewear
• Grason-Stadler
• Sammons Preston Roylan Inc.

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Why Healthy Athletes?

• Because it makes a critical contribution to
  public health
• Healthy Athletes has become the largest public
  health organization specifically for people with
  intellectual disabilities.
• Largest database of health data for people with
  intellectual disabilities in existence

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Health Data on Athletes
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Healthy Athletes The Scope

• Programs in 100 countries
• Over 700,000 screenings
• 80,000 healthcare professionals trained
• 50,000 eyeglasses distributed since 1997

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Healthy Athletes Org
Director, Organizational Development
Senior VP, Constituent Services/Support and Dean,
SOU
Assoc. Director for Program Development
Sr. Manager, Health/ Research Communica-tions
VP, Health Programs
Sr. Grants and Finance Manager
Sr. Manager, Research/ Evaluation
Global Clinical Advisors/ Consultants (18)
Regional Coordinators (9)
Grants Specialist
Manager, Research/ Evaluation
Healthy Athletes Managers (2)
Healthy Athletes Coordinators (2)
Specialist, Research/Evaluation
Specialist, Information/ Data Management
Admin. Specialist
Sr. Manager, Health Promotion and Program
Operation
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Healthy Athletes Organization
SOI Headquarters
Discipline Consultants (18)
Regional Coordinators (9)

• Country/State
• Program (many hats)

Discipline Clinical Directors TTT (1500)
Sub-programs (country/state)
Volunteers (15,000)
Athletes (150,000)
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Global Clinical Advisors

• Develop Screening Protocols Yearly
  reviews updates
• Identify (with local program), recruit
• train volunteer CDs
• Professional programmatic meetings
• Identify corporate sponsors
• Provide TA and quality assessments
• Lead research analysis for data
• Develop lectures teaching materials
• Initiate small pilot project on referrals

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Role of Clinical Directors

• Work with local program to plan HA event
• Recruit/Train local Volunteer Health Pros
• Capacity Grant Application obtain equipment,
  supplies
• Develop local partnerships/sponsorships - Athlete
  Giveaways
• Set up Healthy Athletes Venue
• Collecting and Reporting Data
• Program Evaluation

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Volunteers

• Work in Clinics
• Private Practice
• Hospital based
• University Settings
• Small study indicated that 3.4 worked
  exclusively with ID patients
• 94 knew someone with ID
• 69.3 knew someone who participated in Special
  Olympics

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Training ChallengesClinical Directors

• Need to train more clinical directors
• Volunteer program -
• Sign 3 year commitment to do 1 screening a year
  non-binding
• Burn-out
• May have other commitments the day of a planned
  Healthy Athletes event
• Quality control
• Need for Senior Director training who in turn
  can do TTTs within their state need to pay them
  a stipend

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Professional Training

• Work with Universities to incorporate special
  needs training into the curriculum
• CD Roms for CME/ CEU for psychiatrists,
  optometrists, dentists focusing on people with
  special needs

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Follow-up

• Only 17 gave health screening report card to
  their parents (U. of KS study 300 athletes)
• High rate of follow-up once caregiver aware of
  issue (55 dental 41 vision)
• 50 of programs said they sent copy of screening
  to caregivers
• 22 - informed provider directory
• 21 had specific doctors to contact
• 41 partnered with health clinics, hospitals or
  specific doctors

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Follow up

• 16.7 called caregiver to informed of follow up
  needs
• 10 called athletes
• 6 mailed a questionnaire or conducted phone
  survey about follow up care received by athletes

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Follow UpAthletes had good recall

• 81 of athletes attending vision screenings
  accurately recalled screening results
• 60 of athletes attending hearing screenings
  accurately recalled screening results
• 62 reported brushing teeth more often and 59
  reported starting to floss
• Of 33 athletes fitted for glasses, 82 reported
  wearing them all or some of the time

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Barriers to Follow-up

• Lack of program staff time- wear many hats
• Lack of Clinical Director time volunteer
• Financial and/or transportation burden for
  athletes
• Lack of community resources to which to refer
  athletes

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The Need

• Significant rethink of curriculum
• Significant changes in insurance reimbursement
  policies
• Significant changes in public policy grants,
  incentives, medically underserved status

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Athlete Personal Health RecordAPHR

• Stores life-long health information in simple
  manner from related experiences in Special
  Olympics Programs
• Previously have not been able to follow athletes
  serially through screenings
• Pilot testing in October/November
• Seek additional funding
• Ready to launch Summer World Games Athens 2011

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Project Unify

• Engage schools to use Special Olympics programs
  to create school climates of inclusion,
  acceptance, respect and human dignity for all
  students with and without Intellectual
  disabilities.
• Brings youth together through sports and
  classroom based instruction
• Key values of acceptance and inclusion
• In 39 states 1,200 schools

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Call for Action

• Special Olympics cant do it alone!
• Volunteer at a Healthy Athletes event.
• Agree to accept referrals from Healthy Athletes
• Be aware of and compassionate about the health
  issues facing people with intellectual
  disabilities.

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A Story of Acceptance
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A Story of Respect