In 1997, Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® began offering free health screenings and education to Special Olympics athletes in a welcoming, fun environment. Since then, Special Olympics has delivered over 2 million free health screenings and trained close to 300,000 health professionals and students to treat people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Special Olympics has been collecting data on the health of its athletes for nearly 30 years. These data clearly document significant challenges that arise, at least in part, from systemic barriers to accessing equitable health. Using these data, including the unique qualitative experiences of local Special Olympics chapters, Special Olympics is working toward addressing these disparities, identifying gaps in care, and connecting athletes to follow-up care. Healthy Athletes data help quantify the magnitude of the health disparities for people with IDD.