Special Olympics prioritizes Health Care with Healthy Athletes
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 and trained close to 300,000 health professionals and students to treat people with intellectual disabilities. Moreover, Special Olympics Programs have been able to expand their reach of Healthy Athletes, by offering 123,896 screenings since 2016 in new locations or in new disciplines. Dr. Alicia Bazzano is the Chief Health Officer for Special Olympics. Dr. Bazzano was generous with her time and gave FanSided a guided tour through the health screening that each athlete is afforded. The program has been in place for over 20 years and continues to expand in scope.
The following is an excerpt from the article titled Special Olympics Puts a Special Focus on Health Care published by FanSided.
Special Olympics goes above and beyond to make the experience a memorable one, but also to take great care of those who made the trip. Setting up the athletes to compete at the Games but also to be healthy after the Games is a huge focus.
Dr. Alicia Bazzano is the Chief Health Officer for Special Olympics. Dr. Bazzano was generous with her time and gave FanSided a guided tour through the health screening that each athlete is afforded. The program has been in place for over 20 years and continues to expand in scope.