Removing Barriers to Care: NCA’s Growing Relationship with Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®

This year National Care Advisors has had the privilege of working with Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® to connect athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to care in their local communities. Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®, is made possible by the Golisano Foundation, and in the United States, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® program began in 1997 and offers health screenings and education to Special Olympics athletes and their caregivers. The purpose of these screenings is to discover undetected health problems, alleviate pain, and provide health services that otherwise would not be available. These screenings include those for vision/eye health, audiology, dentistry, nutrition & disease prevention, mental health, pediatrics, physical therapy and podiatry.

Within the United States, Special Olympics has Programs in all 50 states, including two Programs in California and one in Washington, D.C. The mission of these Programs is to provide year–round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic–type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability. Healthy Athletes® screenings are hosted during competitions and as standalone health events, at no cost to the athletes participating. Find your nearest Special Olympics Program and learn how to become a Special Olympics athlete HERE.

So where does NCA come in?

In addition to the goal of identifying preventable health conditions, Healthy Athletes screenings result in athlete and caregiver education and referrals to community-based healthcare providers and specialists. Healthy Athletes also identifies common barriers that can prevent access to care for specific athletes. These barriers can include a lack of medical providers trained in best care practices for persons with IDD, transportation or caregiver support challenges, as well as a lack of insurance or means of payment. When one or more of these barriers are identified, athletes with referrals are connected to NCA for a more in-depth intervention and assessment. Once this referral is received, one of NCA’s regional nurse case managers is assigned to the athlete and their support system. The nurse case manager contacts the athlete and/or their primary caregiver to gather information, assess the barriers to care and provide recommendations. The case manager will also provide care coordination support to help implement the recommendations identified through the Healthy Athletes screening and referral process. This care coordination can include:

• Contacting providers to assist with making appointments and accessing care
• Contacting insurance companies, Medicaid offices or waiver/developmental disability caseworkers to support for services
• Identifying specific vendors/providers/resources

In this first year of collaboration, we have seen significant success in helping athletes overcome their health challenges. In one example, an athlete was referred to NCA because they could not afford to see a dentist and the athlete was experiencing dental health concerns. After meeting with the athlete’s caregiver, the nurse case manager discovered that they had lost their SSDI-DAC benefits at some point. Without these crucial benefit funds, they were unable to access the dental care they needed. Their nurse case manager assisted the family with contacting the Social Security Administration (SSA) office and was informed that they lost these benefits due to an issue with medical recertification. Since the benefits had been lost more than a year prior, a new claim would need to be started. Their nurse case manager assisted the athlete’s caretakers with calling SSA to start a new SSDI-DAC claim for the athlete so that these benefits could be reinstated and funds for dental care would become available.

All referrals bring unique challenges, but the dedicated nurse case managers at NCA and the health staff at Special Olympics are committed to finding the best possible solutions. The impact of this program is evident and is a testament to the need for health screenings and early intervention in one of our most vulnerable populations. National Care Advisors looks forward to continued collaboration with Special Olympics and is honored to have an impact in the lives of these inspiring Special Olympics athletes.

Learn more about the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® program HERE.