Healthy Athletes
Special Olympics Arkansas currently offers Healthy Athletes clinics year-round. The largest event takes place at Summer Games each year. The event hosts seven disciplines and provides 1,632 screenings. A variety of events host one or two disciplines throughout the year providing 100-300 screenings. In an effort to extend our reach in Arkansas with Healthy Athletes we have added a purely educational extension of our clinics, Live Healthy Education Fairs.
As of 2023 Special Olympics Arkansas added an 8th discipline, Strong Minds. Strong Minds was created to help athletes identify ways to destress, have fun, and integrate healthy living choices into their day-to-day lives. This discipline educates athletes on a wide variety of stress management techniques including ideas on healthy sleeping tips, self care for families, and mindfulness.
If you are a healthcare professional interested in getting involved with any of our Healthy Athletes clinics or programs please reach out to
Jennifer Avery.
Below are the eight different disciplines of Healthy Athletes that Special Olympics Arkansas offers. Each athletes that attends receives free health screenings, education, and referrals for follow-up care.
As of 2023 Special Olympics Arkansas added an 8th discipline, Strong Minds. Strong Minds was created to help athletes identify ways to destress, have fun, and integrate healthy living choices into their day-to-day lives. This discipline educates athletes on a wide variety of stress management techniques including ideas on healthy sleeping tips, self care for families, and mindfulness.
If you are a healthcare professional interested in getting involved with any of our Healthy Athletes clinics or programs please reach out to
Jennifer Avery.
Below are the eight different disciplines of Healthy Athletes that Special Olympics Arkansas offers. Each athletes that attends receives free health screenings, education, and referrals for follow-up care.
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Fun FitnessComprehensive, cooperative and educational, FUNfitness is the physical therapy component of Healthy Athletes® that Special Olympics athletes describe as “just plain fun”. Designed to assess and improve an athlete’s flexibility, functional strength, aerobic capacity and balance, volunteer physical therapists, assistants, and students assess the flexibility and functional strength of Special Olympics Athletes’ muscles, as well as overall balance at FUNfitness screenings. The FUNfitness curriculum was developed for Special Olympics Healthy Athletes by the American Physical Therapy Association. Professional volunteers (OTs, PTs, students) interested in assisting at FUNfitness events please contact:
Arkansas Clinical Director Robin Dyer, M.S., P.T. |
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Health PromotionHealth Promotion Programs validate the success of the diverse approaches offered, along with positive psychosocial and health benefits:
Improved perceived health; Reduction in body weight;
Arkansas Clinical Directors Warren Newman Duston Morris, PhD, MS, CHES, CHC |
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Healthy HearingAs the audiological component of Healthy Athletes®, Healthy Hearing was created to assess the hearing of athletes using multiple screening methods such as pure tone testing and tympanometry. In some cases, like at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, healthy Hearing volunteers are able to provide free hearing aids that immediately restore hearing for athletes, thanks to corporate donations.
Professional volunteers (audiologists, students) interested in assisting at Healthy Hearing events please contact: Arkansas Clinical Directors Jan Stroud, Au.D, CCC-A |
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Opening EyesWith eyes wide open to the needs of people with intellectual disabilities, Special Olympics – Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes®, was created to provide free vision screening for Special Olympics athletes.
Opening Eyes also works to educate athletes, parents and coaches about the importance of regular eye care, and enlightens and alters the attitudes of eye care professionals about the vision care needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Professionals can also earn continuing education credits. Arkansas Clinical Directors Airiell Schwab, O.D. |
Special Smiles Sponsor:
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Special SmilesSpecial Smiles has demonstrated remarkable success in its mission to increase access to dental care for Special Olympics athletes, and to all people with intellectual disabilities. Today, Special Smiles is considered a leading advocate on standards for care an equality-of-care issues.
The scope of Special Smiles has been expanded to include:
Arkansas Clinical Directors Dr. Lindy Bollen Jennifer Garner, RDH |
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Fit FeetFit Feet helps Special Olympics athletes step lively on the playing field, and in everyday life. Many athletes suffer from foot and ankle pain, or deformities that impair their performance. In fact, up to 50 percent of Special Olympics athletes experience one or more preventable or treatable foot conditions that can affect their sports participation. Often, these individuals are not fitted with the best shoes and socks for their particular sport. To alleviate these problems, volunteer podiatrists work with athletes to evaluate problems of the feet, ankles and lower extremity biomechanics.
Arkansas Clinical Director Jame Pierce, DPM Joseph M. LaCava, DPM |
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MedFestThe goals of MedFest include: offer a free sports physical and other health examination services to people with intellectual disabilities, recruit new athletes to Special Olympics, foster new partnerships between Special Olympics and the community, and provide physicians, nurses and other health care providers with training and specialized experience in caring for people with intellectual disabilities.
Arkansas Clinical Directors Leonie Declerk, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC Teresa Whited, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC Mario Hofheinz, PA-C Tara Almand, DPN, APRN |
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Strong MindsStrong 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.
Arkansas Clinical Directors Stephanie Rose, DSW, LCSW, AADC, DCS Tisha Jenkins, LCSW, AADC |
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Healthy Young AthletesHealthy Young Athletes is a holistic pediatric screening offered to children 2 – 7 years old, with and without Intellectual Disabilities, as an initial offering by Healthy Athletes. The screening can be implemented across the three Young Athletes implementation models—school, community, and home—as well as in conjunction with large-scale Healthy Athletes events. The screening is intended to complement a child’s primary care and provides an additional review of the child’s health and development. It is therefore paired with a comprehensive referral and community support strategy that links families with local providers, community services, and education resources for follow-up and continued support. It also serves as an educational experience to increase health and development knowledge amongst parents and caregivers. This is achieved by identifying medical, developmental, and behavioral concerns that parents and caregivers may have about their child and directing them to the appropriate resources.
Arkansas Clinical Director Sarah Clark, OT |
The Healthy Athletes Provider Directory is an online database of healthcare professionals who treat patients with intellectual disabilities. Healthcare
providers can create and maintain a listing in the Provider Directory.
providers can create and maintain a listing in the Provider Directory.
