MedFest: The Gateway to Special Olympics
by David Evangelista, Senior Manager, Special Olympics
Special Olympics continues to search for innovative ways to bring sports opportunities to more people with intellectual disabilities across the world. It is this drive that has led to the creation and implementation of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes' newest health screening: MedFest.
People with intellectual disabilities who wish to participate in Special Olympics first need to receive a participation physical exam and clearance from their primary care physician. It is only after the athlete successfully completes the physical examination can they officially enter into Special Olympics sports programming, helping to assure the safe participation of every athlete. Research has shown that people with intellectual disabilities often have trouble accessing medical care, including sports physicals and exams, worldwide.
The newly established MedFest program recruits volunteer physicians to provide the required physical examinations for people who wish to register in Special Olympics. MedFest began in Chicago, Illinois, USA, as a screening program to help facilitate enrollment of urban athletes. The program has since become one of the most effective tools for global growth for Special Olympics, helping the movement reach its goal of 2 million participating athletes by the end of 2005.
MedFest screening consists of vitals (blood pressure, height and weight), cardiology, abdominal, and musculoskeletal checks. Special Olympics Global Medical Advisor Matthew Holder, MD, MBA, recently brought together leading medical authorities in the disability field to strengthen and standardize the clinical protocols. "Concurrently, the program offers the same potential for exposing medical professionals to this specialized and necessary clinical training through innovative community health programming," Dr. Holder stated as he opened the meeting in Chicago in early October 2005.
The MedFest program was originally adopted in 2003 following the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland. MedFest recruitment programs have taken place in five Special Olympics regions, and in many instances have resulted in the creation of new Special Olympics Programs!
Special Olympics Latin America has adopted MedFest as its primary tool for increasing athlete participation, with more than 10 MedFest programs conducted in 2005. MedFest also has shown great results in the Asia Pacific Region, with screenings taking place in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and India. The inauguration of the Wenzhou Medical College's Eunice Kennedy Shriver Sports Health Clinic in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China, incorporated a MedFest program as part of the festivities.
The MedFest program also has been successful on the political front through a national partnership with the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Hon. P.J. Patterson. MedFest received official support from the Ministry of Health of the island in realizing two events in 2005, resulting in a 20 percent increase in athlete growth for Special Olympics Jamaica. Perhaps most remarkably, Special Olympics Asia Pacific Regional Managing Director Troy Greisen led the implementation of the first-ever MedFest event in Kabul, Afghanistan, in conjunction with the Program's first-ever National Games. The event marked the first time that most of these people received clinical attention in a formal medical setting.
MedFest creates a social fusion of community resources, joining the Special Olympics Program, the medical community and the disability sector (sheltered workshops, group homes, etc.) together. In 2004 alone, more than 9,000 new athletes were recruited into Special Olympics through MedFest, and it is estimated that this figure doubled in 2005.
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