Pulling together to provide needed health screenings for Special Olympics athletes

The Summer Games presented each year at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center offer screenings to the thousands of participating athletes, from children to adults in their 80s. Available are:

• Special Smiles: Dental screenings, oral health information and supplies
• Healthy Hearing: Hearing screenings
• Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes: Eye screenings, prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses and sports goggles
• Fit Feet: Foot screenings and proper shoe and sock gear
• Strong Minds: Learning activities and resources to develop emotional health and coping skills
• FUNFitness: Activities and education to improve athletic function and reduce injury
• EmpowerHER WOmen's Health Screening

Pitching in to provide needed healthcare screenings

These offerings help make Special Olympics the largest provider of free health screenings to individuals in the world.

During the 2025 Ohio Summer Games, healthcare teams completed about 2,300 screenings for athletes.

It’s a massive undertaking. Each summer, several programs from across The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University’s health science colleges pitch in to help make the screenings happen. Among them have been more than 165 members of faculty, staff and students in dentistry, audiology, ophthalmology, podiatry, athletic training, physical therapy, psychology, nursing and more.

“We’re able to provide significant health screenings to an athletic population that may or may not have access at other times in a fun environment,” says Larry Nolan, DO, a sports and family medicine physician at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center who has served as medical director for Special Olympics Ohio since 2004.

“Anytime we can get an athlete to engage more in their own health and keep them competing and doing the things that they like doing, it’s always a win,” Dr. Nolan says.

In 2026, Dr. Nolan and other members of the Ohio State Sports Medicine team also helped Ohio athletes competing in Special Olympics USA Games, happening in June and held every four years. The physicians performed medical exams and staffed the Team Ohio training camp to ensure athletes are prepared for the national stage.

Raising standards of care

Healthy Athletes is a global program of Special Olympics, started due to large health disparities among people with intellectual disabilities, says Amy O’Neal, senior director of health strategies for Special Olympics Ohio.

According to Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, Special Olympics International’s chief health officer, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience preventable inequities that can shorten life expectancy by 16 to 20 years.

The Ohio Summer Games offer a convenient one-stop access point for athletes from across the state who may struggle to find care in urban or rural areas or who may live away from family in residential homes.

O’Neal says that, based on most current data, screenings have shown that among participants:

• 8% have permanent hearing loss
• 17% have an eye disease
• 25% have untreated tooth decay
• 46% have a skin or nail condition
• 46% over age 20 are obese

“These screenings not only provide a service for our athletes, but they also provide a service for healthcare students and professionals, because they increase their knowledge of best practices and caring for individuals with intellectual disabilities,” O’Neal says.

Kyanna Pastore, MS, an assistant director athletic trainer for The Ohio State University Department of Athletics, has helped out with screenings for several years and says it’s rewarding to be part of a team that empowers the athletes to achieve their best.

“These individuals show the most appreciation for even the smallest gestures of care and support. I really enjoy their gratitude, and it’s genuine. It's just unmatched and unfiltered,” she says. “I get to build a connection with these athletes. It just fuels my passion and reinforces the value of inclusion and compassionate, holistic care.”

While performing screenings allows volunteers to make sure athletes are participating safely, it also helps ensure they’re healthy day in and day out and year to year, Pastore says. “It’s about being present, listening to what the athletes need, advocating for them and celebrating them,” she says.

Inspired by athletes to do more

Many Ohio State students and staff who participate in Special Olympics screenings gain a similar perspective as they learn about the challenges athletes face and how they overcome and succeed, says John DeWitt, PT, DPT, AT, associate director of Education and Professional Development in the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Services.

This can spur them to consider ways in which they can help underserved communities beyond Special Olympics, he says.

“It’s recognition of compassion and being able to not only recognize where there’s a need but also to step in and do something about it,” says DeWitt, who helps recruit Ohio State students and physical therapists to volunteer for the FUNFitness screenings.

Athletes also pass along a new perspective on competition, with those who lose events hugging and whole-heartedly congratulating the winners.

“I look to them as role models of being able to develop resiliency and also love for other athletes, other competitors,” says DeWitt, an associate professor in The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. “It really puts things into perspective.”

Dr. Nolan says he’s proud of the Ohio State team, but he’s also quick to point out that “it’s not just Ohio State.” Some other partners include Cleveland State University, University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“This is a group of people who want to help these athletes, people who want to be a part of it. You get to be around a group of motivated athletes who are going to inspire you to want to do more,” says Dr. Nolan, a clinical associate professor of Family and Community Medicine in The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Beth Chartier, RDH, MPH, a clinical director for Special Olympics Ohio Special Smiles in central Ohio, says the program screens for oral health issues, including oral cancer, instructs on proper brushing and flossing and provides fluoride varnish treatments. Volunteers also try to connect athletes with appropriate healthcare professionals as close to their homes as possible.

She calls it a phenomenal experience for dental and dental hygiene students, many of whom have never interacted with people with intellectual disabilities.

“Our students just love the experience and having that opportunity to raise their comfort level and have a better understanding of the unique oral health needs and difficulties that the population faces,” says Chartier, a clinical assistant professor in The Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

“It also helps raise the awareness of the immense difficulty that this population has in accessing care,” she says. “There are very few dental providers who are comfortable or equipped in treating this population.”

‘It wouldn’t be Special Olympics without it’

Athlete Maxwell Damron, 28, of Columbus, has competed in bocce and basketball and has attended the health screenings. He says volunteers don’t only fill the role of doctor or nurse, but also help athletes make health decisions.

“It’s good to have the doctors and nurses there to educate the athletes on health, and keeping up to date with their appointments and not to avoid them if something is wrong with their health,” Damron says.

Both Damron and Hahn are also trained to serve as “Health Messengers,” health and wellness leaders, advocates and role models in their Special Olympics communities.

Hahn says Healthy Athletes is a critical component of the games that makes a difference and that athletes gravitate toward it.

“I’ve seen change. They just love it,” he says. “It wouldn’t be Special Olympics without it.”