Members of the Special Olympics Health team attended and presented at the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., from 2 – 5 November 2025. APHA serves as a leading voice in the public health community, shaping and advancing public health policy and building capacity in the public health field. APHA’s annual meeting provides opportunities for Special Olympics to showcase our Health work and connect with other leaders in public health. This year’s conference theme was “Making the Public’s Health a National Priority,” which provided a platform for Special Olympics Health to underscore our work towards making the health of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) a national priority.
At the conference, Special Olympics presented one poster and participated in a symposium, three panels, and two collaborative sessions on different areas of health work. State programs were also active throughout the conference as Special Olympics D.C. presented in a collaborative session titled, Addressing Barriers to Physical Activity for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and the Impact of Inclusive Fitness Programs, and Special Olympics Michigan participated in the symposium presentation about athlete empowerment and leadership, advocacy and inclusion, and the importance of athlete voices in research.
Special Olympics Health shared its work not only within the Disability Section, but across the broader public health community through presentations in the International Health, Physical Activity, and General Sessions. Presentations covered a range of topics including findings from a recent low-bone mineral density paper to an overview of the upcoming Special Olympics American Journal of Public Health supplement focused on health equity for people with IDD. Additional presentation topics focused on making health systems more inclusive through leveraging data, health screenings and referrals through Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®, and Project ALL STAR, including initial analyses of fitness metrics, Goal Attainment Scaling, and Cognitive Interviewing.
The symposium showcased the upcoming 2026 Special Olympics-sponsored American Journal of Public Health supplement titled, Health Equity in the Medically Underserved Population of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Presenting at the symposium allowed the Health team an opportunity to showcase leadership in the IDD space and share updates about Special Olympics Health work.
The session discussed the reach of Special Olympics Health through its Global Reach Report, the recently published Global Health Report, Focusing on the Invisible, findings from Healthy Athletes, inclusive health education and training, and other inclusive health initiatives.
Session attendees expressed their surprise and appreciation for the work being done by Special Olympics Health, especially around the linkage to community-based care following Healthy Athletes screenings and training resources/opportunities for healthcare students and professionals.
Presentations
Special Olympics also led five presentations at APHA, which allowed the Health team to discuss various Health projects, share detailed findings, and raise awareness of the different aspects of Special Olympics Health work.
Calvin Trisolini, Special Olympics International Project ALL STAR Evaluation Coordinator for Pennsylvania, led a presentation titled, Adapting Goal Attainment Scaling for Use by Special Olympics Athletes in Project ALL STAR. Project ALL STAR is an evaluation project looking at how Special Olympics participation influences physical, social, and mental health over time. Through his presentation, Calvin explained how Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) was piloted for use with adults with IDD to document motivations and progress towards self-selected goals. He shared initial findings with preliminary data suggesting measurable advancement for participants, particularly in fitness goals, and the potential for broad application of GAS across other Special Olympics programming.
The learnings from Project ALL Star continued as Andy Lincoln, Vice President of Research and Evaluation, led a presentation titled, Initial Health and Fitness Findings from Special Olympics Project ALL STAR Longitudinal Evaluation. Andy shared initial findings and characteristics from 110 participants in Project ALL STAR. The session highlighted low baseline levels of cardiovascular fitness and strength among participants. However, the in-person assessments resulted in a positive experience among participants and volunteers, key elements to maintain engagement over the course of a longitudinal evaluation. Findings from Project ALL STAR will better inform our understanding of athletes’ health and development of inclusive strategies for individuals with IDD and Special Olympics programming.
Cortney Pfeaster, Special Olympics Colorado Project ALL STAR Evaluation Coordinator, and Kayla Cornell, Athlete Leader, Special Olympics International Athlete Advisory Board members, and employee within the Special Olympics Michigan Health and Wellness Department, presented, Refining Health Surveys for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): Using Cognitive Interviewing in Special Olympics Project ALL STAR. Cortney and Kayla provided an overview of Cognitive Interviewing (CI), a -refinement tool with interviewers using probing questions to evaluate survey comprehension, accuracy, and overall user experience. Preliminary CIs were piloted with Project ALL STAR participants and members of the Special Olympics International Athlete Advisory Board which led to refinements in CI protocol to a more inclusive process.
The presentation sparked discussion among attendees on systemic barriers of compensating those with lived experience. CI was well received as a strong, inclusive method to revise surveys for this population.
Alicia Dixon Ibarra, Director of Fitness and Health Research, presented on Rosemary Collaboratory. Rosemary Collaboratory is a health systems strengthening initiative that represents an expanded effort by Special Olympics to tackle the health system issues that drive the health disparities people with IDD often experience.
What made this session particularly meaningful was the ability to disseminate findings alongside Special Olympics consultant, Jae Kennedy, Professor of Health and Disability Policy at the Elson S Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University, whose expertise brought the data to life. Sharing the stage in this way deepened collaboration and strengthened our collective voice in calling for more inclusive health systems.
The session incorporated the U.S. system-level assessment data on health trends among individuals with IDD. Data was pulled from the 2021–2023 National Core Indicators Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (NCI-IDD) surveys to assess healthcare utilization patterns among Medicaid beneficiaries with IDD (n=36,012). Additionally, data from the 2021 – 2023 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) were used to compare the health status of U.S. adults with IDD (n=796) to those without activity limitations. The findings showed an urgent need for IDD-inclusive healthcare policies and highlighted that data is powerful in developing action plans for change.
Attendees were eager to learn and connect—many signed up to receive updates from the Special Olympics Center for Inclusive Health, signaling a growing commitment to inclusion and partnership.
Brittany Routh, Director of Healthy Athletes and Health Services, presented: Multidisciplinary health screenings and referral coordination for Special Olympics athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The presentation provided an overview of how Healthy Athletes provides free health screenings and education, identifies preventable health conditions, and ensures Special Olympics athletes and individuals with IDD receive the care they need to be healthy.
The presentation focused on health screenings that were conducted at 14 U.S. state Programs by volunteer clinicians and health professional students across eight Healthy Athletes disciplines. Following the screenings, athletes received urgent and non-urgent referrals with care coordination with health professionals. As a result, 580 athletes were referred for follow-up care and supported by National Care Advisors through care connection. Healthy Athletes exemplifies an effective and inclusive approach to healthcare delivery for individuals with IDD, improving connections to care and addressing common access barriers to follow-up care. Barriers to care were identified to 136 athletes with referrals, a necessary step in addressing said barriers and successfully connecting athletes to care. National Care advisors confirmed follow-up care appointments for 170 athletes, many with multiple referrals.
Poster
Andy Lincoln and Alicia Dixon-Ibarra also presented a poster titled, Global Variation of Low Bone Mineral Density in Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Poster presentations offer a visual and interactive platform to communicate research and findings, interact with other professionals, encourage discussion, and collaborate on shared areas of interest.
The poster shared findings from the recent published paper on Low Bone Mineral Density in Special Olympics athletes. Data from over 25,000 athletes who attended Healthy Athletes Screenings was included in the paper and associated poster, highlighting major findings including that nearly 1 in 4 young adults with IDD have low bone mineral density (LBMD), a major risk factor for osteoporosis. The poster emphasized the need for early intervention strategies to promote bone health among individuals with IDD globally. Presenting within the International Health Section provided an important platform to raise global awareness of these disparities and foster dialogue with international researchers and public health leaders.
Having a strong presence at large, international conferences like APHA allows Special Olympics to share updates and news about our ongoing Health work with global experts in the field as well as those who are not currently aware of the ongoing Special Olympics Health programming. It also allows us to learn state-of-the-art approaches to adopt and adapt to work with Special Olympics athletes. With the mission of being leader in championing inclusive health, it is important to seize opportunities to share our work, connect with global leaders and passionate public health professionals, and grow from the work that other experts are contributing to the field.
