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Macro Post 4

Overview

Working with Special Olympics North Carolina this semester has been so rewarding. Team SONC was given the role to plan, promote, present, and collect data from Wellness Wednesdays. Working alongside Ellen, Team SONC preceptor, made every week run smoothly. Each week overall got better and better. From working out to dancing, the hour spent with athletes was my absolute favorite. Team SONC was very blessed in all aspects during this internship with SONC. This semester was so much fun and I am very excited to be back working with SONC again in the Spring.  

Limitations and barriers

Every year Special Olympics hosts an event called Medfest which allows the athletes to come and get a variety of health screenings. A list of things Medfest does includes: Offering a free sports physical, and other health screening services to people with intellectual disabilities (ID), providing individuals with ID who are not yet Special Olympics athletes the means to become Special Olympics athletes, providing individuals who are already Special Olympics athletes the means to remain athletes by supplying the necessary re-qualification physical examination, providing members of the medical community with training and specialized experience in the examination and assessment of people with ID, and offering sports demos and wellness activities in the form of a Wellness Fair. This is to promote the local SO sports programming as well as connect athletes to local community health and wellness resources.

Unfortunately, this year due to COVID-19, Special Olympics North Carolina was not able to have Medfest for the athletes to do their health screenings. Fortunately, this is where Team SONC comes in. The Wellness Wednesday sessions that I discussed in all of my previous posts were an opportunity to not only teach athletes about being healthy but to do screenings that otherwise would have been done at MedFest. Although these screenings were virtual which ultimately was a barrier due to not being hands on with the athletes, the turnout of participants was always a great success. Being that these sessions were virtual, there were athletes that were unable to participate due to the lack of technology or wifi capabilities. There were 39 total countries that participated, 51% being rural counties. Every athlete was given a play book for the semester that they were to complete and if they were unable to meet virtually, they were to fill out the book and return to their coach to show participation. Every athlete was very excited about participating whether it was virtually or just by completing their playbook. The barriers of being in rural areas versus urban is the access to quick and efficient internet. 

The biggest challenge for me was not being able to be hands on with the athletes and not allowing the athletes to unmute themselves on the zoom sessions. Even though this semester looks different for everyone, I would have loved to give an athlete a hug or hear them share their story through a virtual session. It was during the Special Smiles session that we broke out into break out rooms and I was able to talk with a few athletes about their dentist experiences. This was one of my favorite sessions. Not only was I excited to talk with the athletes but they were so excited to finally talk with us!  

Successes

Team SONC had huge successes during our time with SONC this semester and working on Wellness Wednesday sessions. I like to brag about being on Team SONC because we all got along so well and we were able to implement the program effectively. Each session ran without problem and we were blessed in that aspect because many things could go wrong on a virtual platform. Our biggest success was keeping the Wellness Wednesday sessions to over 100 athletes each week. This number was huge because these Wellness Wednesday sessions required every athlete to register in order to receive the zoom link. Ashley on Team SONC was in charge of the data project. She did a great job of keeping track of the polling data as well as the overall participant data. She completed the data into one spreadsheet to show the themes of the overall project. At the end of every Wednesday, we sent out an evaluation to the athletes; 98% of athletes enjoyed the Wellness Wednesday sessions and 97% of athletes learned something from the sessions. Our success came from the participation averages, county averages, and polling averages. The athletes were always excited to come back each week and learn something new. 

[annikak-ph]

Macro Post 3

Rural Areas, IDD, and SONC

There are many differences between rural and urban areas. Any area has disparities and inequalities but rural areas more so than urban areas. People with disabilities who live in rural areas where essential services are scarce often face difficulties seldom encountered in urban areas. Access to adequate housing, transportation, employment, educational programs, and specialized healthcare may be limited in many parts of rural America. Community organizations, healthcare facilities, local governments and other rural entities can help people with disabilities by collaborating and creatively using limited resources to provide needed services Individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) experience these barriers more often than individuals without disabilities. Individuals with IDD lack resources necessary for their health in rural areas. There are many gaps in rural communities for any individual but specifically for individuals with IDD needs to be addressed. People with disabilities have largely been unrecognized as a population for public health attention, but recent efforts have made the poor health of this population visible. People with disabilities are often excluded from participation in mainstream public health programs and services.  

Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) has created amazing opportunities for individuals with IDD. SONC has created opportunities for individuals with IDD to participate in sporting events as well as educational opportunities to promote healthy ways to live. The goal of Special Olympics is to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed, accepted, and included. Individuals with IDD in rural areas face lack of support and there are not many who understand the issues and problems individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face daily. The Special Olympics Organization and SONC positively promotes IDD and responds to the barriers effectively. The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. No matter where an athlete lives, urban or rural in NC, there is the ability for them to participate in Special Olympics and join a local team. Special Olympics also partners with Unified Champion Schools that also allow athletes to participate. Unified Champion Schools provide an environment that is free from bullying and exclusion, combats stereotypes and negative attitudes, eliminates hurtful language, promotes healthy activity and interactions, and is welcoming and values the engagement of students. Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools also bring youth with and without intellectual disabilities together through sports and education to create school communities of acceptance and respect. Unified Champion Schools are seen through every level of education (Pre-K/Head Start through college) and are driven by youth and staff leaders. 

Special Olympics North Carolina is such a special organization because they strive to make a difference. Through Unified Champion Schools to people wanting to volunteer their time to help individuals with IDD succeed. Volunteers are the backbone of Special Olympics North Carolina. SONC strives with the dedication of volunteers. In North Carolina, there are over 40,000 volunteers across the state. The time, energy and enthusiasm of volunteers fuel our movement and make our athletes’ dreams a reality. At Special Olympics North Carolina, there is a place for everyone. Sports-minded individuals can find a place coaching or assisting at practice or events. Local business people can utilize their talents as part of our Games Management Team. Students can devote their passion to a competition and retirees can support in a multitude of roles out in the field or in the office. At the end of the day, all volunteers have one thing in common, pride in knowing they are making a difference in the lives of Special Olympics athletes.

The many barriers that individuals with disabilities face is heartbreaking. Special Olympics North Carolina not only provides these individuals with ways to stay active but gives them the opportunity to seek health care and get health screenings and that makes SONC so amazing. Before working with SONC, I knew very little about what they do as a whole but I knew individuals with IDD were involved. Since working with SONC, I have grown to love everything about the organization and what they do for individuals with disabilities. SONC strives to be inclusive and make individuals feel accepted. The organization as a whole is phenomenal. Individuals with disabilities are blessed with an organization like the Special Olympics.

[annikak-ph]

Annie is a Special Olympics Athlete from Orange County, NC. She has been working along side Team SONC to help Wednesdays go smoothly. For our last Wellness Wednesday Annie prepared a cooking demonstration for the athletes. Annie took the athletes through step-by-step to make scrambled eggs on the stove top! Along with cooking, Annie gave insightful nutrition facts about eggs, told egg jokes, and engaged with her fellow athletes! This session was so much fun. 

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Be Your Own Advocate! This is the cover of the toolkit I created for the athletes that are going out and advocating for themselves and their fellow athletes. Self-advocacy is important to the athletes as they want their voice to be heard and their needs to be met! In the issue is information that the athletes advocating can take with them and read through to help them prepare and promote their ideas for presentations and social media! 

[annikak-ph]

Health Promotion is a large part of Public Health and it super important to promote healthy ideas to the athletes. For this Wellness Wednesday, Alice, a Global Messenger and a Registered Dietitian screened the participating athletes and presented ways for the athletes to continue to live a healthy life! The athletes were given healthy snack ideas as well as recipes for healthy meals.

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Physical activity is very important for any individual. Special Olympic Athletes are particularly apart of the Special Olympics Organization to be an athlete and get physical activity through sports. This Wellness Wednesday session was to help athletes understand what physical activity is and why it is important. They learned that getting physical activity time in during the day besides at their sporting events is vital. The athletes learned about balance and flexibility as well. Physical activity looks different for every athlete due to their ability but every athlete is eager to be active and show they are able to participate in physical activity. 

[annikak-ph]

Advocacy - Macro Post 2

The Special Olympics North Carolina Organization has become so near and dear to my heart. As Team SONC wraps up the Wellness Wednesday sessions for the first half of Partner Up, Power Up on 11-03-2020 we are so happy with everything we have accomplished but saddened we have to take a break for a few weeks as the semester comes to a close. Speaking for myself and the rest of my team, we have loved every minute of working together and alongside SONC. 

Out of the 4 criteria/competencies my team was given to work on this semester with Team SONC, I was given the lead on the advocacy project. Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Special Olympics athletes, serving as self-advocates, educate lawmakers and their staff about the significant consequences that arise from the stigma and stereotypes faced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They describe how that impacts their lives in the areas of sports, health care and education. Allowing the athletes with this opportunity allows for their voice to be heard. Everyone’s voice should be heard no matter their disability because abilities outweigh disabilities. 

As the leader of the advocacy project for Team SONC, I was unsure where exactly to begin and what exactly to formulate as a “good” advocacy project because many athletes are already good at self-advocating for themselves and their fellow athletes. Special Olympics generated a toolkit for COVID-19 that was sent to all of the employees. This toolkit included what COVID-19 is, what ways we can prevent further spread, precautions, how to keep athletes safe when gathering for sporting events, and so much more. This toolkit was complex but presented with so much knowledge. Since the toolkit was complex and did not have lay language, it was not given to the athletes. I was tasked with creating a toolkit with the athletes that are finishing Global Messenger Training that are trained and prepared to be a self-advocate. The COVID-19 toolkit helped me visualize and create 

As the lead of this project, I was able to meet with my preceptor, Ellen to understand what exactly this project should be. Ellen explained what she is looking for in this toolkit and gave me the “go”. I began by gathering information surrounding the idea of self-advocacy and more information on intellectual disabilities. I made a plan of what I wanted this toolkit to look like for the athletes. I first created a template for the toolkit and then I presented the information I planned to include in the toolkit to my team. The toolkit is to be simple but have a significant impact on the athletes as they are to find this information useful. 

 Advocacy is really important for these athletes. The idea behind this toolkit is to provide athletes with information regarding being a health advocate. The athletes receiving this toolkit have gone through Global Messenger training which is a health training. This toolkit will be a guide of how to successfully be a health advocate and will be handy for the athletes if they need information. Each page consists of informative information that includes: “What Is A Health Advocate”, “How To Be A Health Advocate”, “Your Mind Is Strong”, “Your Body Is Strong”, “Social Media”, “Resources”, and the final page is a flyer that with a summary of the information in the toolkit that the athletes can pass out at advocacy events. The first 2 pages give ideas of what exactly a health advocate is going to be doing, how they can go about advocating and who to advocate to. The following 2 pages are about preparing for an advocacy campaign, decompressing from the stress, coping mechanisms while the advocate is stressed, different ways to breathe during this stressful time, exercising, stretching, balance and flexibility techniques. The social media page provides the athlete with a script for an elevator pitch that they can use at presentations and social media templates that they can copy and paste into their social media for advocacy posts. The final content page is a bunch of resources for the athletes. These resources are copy and paste links that will give the athletes useful information if they are stuck on topics that they are going to be presenting on. The resources will also include links to the athletes healthy disciplines and links to questions to ask a potential doctor to make sure that doctor is the best for them and understands IDD. 

This toolkit is a work in progress. I am so excited to present my team's hard work to Ellen, the athletes, Global Messenger’s, and to the class. 

@drtillman

[annikak-ph]

Your smile is so important. Having a healthy smile is so important. This specific Wellness Wednesday dental students from ECU and UNC joined us and taught the athletes all about dental care. We were able to engage with the athletes in break out rooms which was very rewarding. The athletes were very engaged and came with lots of questions for the dental students. This session is top on my list for favorites. 

#specialsmiles #WellnessWednesday 

@drtillman

[annikak-ph]

Team Special Olympics was able to have the head chef at Campbell University join us for a Wellness Wednesday session to present a cooking demonstration for the athletes. The chef showed the athletes step by step how to make guacamole. We chose this recipe for the athletes because it is healthy and easy to make! Guacamole requires minimal ingredients and limited kitchen tools. The athletes LOVED this session as did Team Special Olympics. 

#healthyeating #SONC #PartnerUpPowerUp #WellnessWednesday

@drtillman 

[annikak-ph]

Wednesday 10-07-2020 wrapped up the first five weeks of Partner Up, Power Up. The first five weeks were absolutely incredible. My practicum group has been given the opportunity to plan and prepare Wellness Wednesdays for 10 weeks in the Partner Up, Power Up program. The 10 weeks are split in half due to the athletes participating in a Playbook provided by Special Olympics of North Carolina. The Playbook was provided to the athletes because of the inability to meet in person. The athletes are given Zoom links they can join to participate in daily events. In the Playbook, athletes can find what they are to be participating in each day via zoom, the exercises they are to be doing each day, activity write-ins, and a check off box for participation. Each week is a different topic for the athletes but exercising and stretching is every day. The Playbook provides the athletes with healthy goals and allows the athletes to set goals for themselves each week. 

On Wednesdays, my group hosts Wellness Wednesdays. My favorite day of the week. Each Wednesday is a new topic for the athletes but the topic we present on goes with their weekly Power Up tracker. The first five weeks have taught me so much. The Wednesdays so far have consisted of presentations on nutrition, hydration, cooking healthy meals, and mental health. These Wednesdays have already taught me so much about individuals with IDD and how important it is for them to continuously be receiving education as well as educating themselves on healthy topics or known as “healthy athlete disciplines” to them. Wellness Wednesdays are led by my practicum group as well as certified professionals on the specific topic presented on each week. My group has successfully kept the number of participants each week over 100! This number is impressive and so reassuring. The athletes really feel like they are getting knowledgeable information from our sessions and want to come back each week. The athletes favorite part might not be the actual education portion but the dance party at the end. It is so much fun to see over 100 athletes dancing and moving around at the end of every session.  

One of the most important weeks for the athletes thus far was Strong Minds. Strong Minds focused on mental health. Mental health is important for any individual but particularly important for an individual with IDD. The session was all about how important it is to take care of your mind as well as your body. The athletes were provided with different ways to cope with their mental health when they are feeling stressed, sad, or angry. The athletes were also given ways to positively reinforce their mental health throughout the day whether it is through positive affirmations or breathing techniques. Athletes already know they are different than everyone else therefore it is important to keep their mental health in mind when working with them. Gaining a better understanding of how they cope with stress or anxiety and providing education for them is something they appreciate. Even though each Wednesday is a different topic, the athletes are fully aware they are allowed to reach out to any Special Olympic Staff and they will be guided in the right direction. 

Aside from the Wellness Wednesday Strong Minds session, the athletes go through mental health screenings with professionals. These screenings allow the athletes to have one on one conversations with professionals about their mental health. They are able to discuss what they are going through and ask as many questions as they need to. Similar to the Wellness Wednesday Strong Minds session, they are provided with coping strategies and other ways to continue to have positive and healthy mental health. 

From the first 5 weeks, I have learned so much. The athletes are always so excited to participate in their Power Up book each week and their interactions with us during our Wellness Wednesday sessions are always amazing. I've learned that the little things mean so much to the athletes. A simple shoutout on the Zoom call can make their day. I’ve also learned that even though they know they are different, they still want normalcy. They appreciate any and every normal daily routine that comes with being them. Each athlete wants to feel included and that is my group's job with this program. Little educational moments stick with the athletes for a long time. Working with these athletes has been a blessing and I am so excited to continue these next 5 weeks with them.

@drtillman

[annikak-ph]

Wednesday’s are my favorite day of the week! Wellness Wednesday is so much fun. This particular week we focused on hydration. Every athlete was asked to bring their water bottle to the session to show they are staying hydrated throughout the day! Over 100 athletes participate each week for our Wellness Wednesday sessions. 

My group is super busy planning these events for the amazing athletes each week. Every week is better than the last and we always look forward to seeing everyone. 

@drtillman

[annikak-ph]

Last Tuesday NCSO kicked off Partner Up, Power Up with a little introduction to what the following weeks will look like via Zoom. This meeting was filled with many excited athletes from all over North Carolina eager to begin working in their PlayBook. My group has been super busy planning Wellness Wednesday that will kick off TONIGHT! We are stoked to be apart of this amazing organization and be apart of Wellness Wednesday’s.

@drtillman

[drtillman]

Let’s get it started

Welcome to the new class of Fall 2020!  Follow me and I’ll follow you back.

[annikak-ph]

This week I was busy learning all about NC Special Olympics and how resilient the athletes are. I completed a course of learning modules that helped me gain a better understanding of Intellectual Disabilities and Special Olympics Health. I am super excited to be apart of something so special. Up next: Wellness Wednesday!

@drtillman

[annikak-ph]

Super excited to start working with NC Special Olympics this semester! My team was able to virtually meet with our preceptor, Mrs. Fahey and begin learning all about NCSO!