Welcome to the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® Provider Directory The Healthy Athletes Provider Directory is an online database of health care professionals who are able and willing to treat patients with intellectual disabilities. Health care providers can create and maintain a listing in the Provider Directory, which currently is open to health care providers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean (over time, the Directory will be opened to providers in other regions of the world). Health Care Providers      Create a listing in the Provider Directory (currently open to health care providers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean). General Public     Search the Directory to find a provider in your area who is willing to treat patients with intellectual disabilities. The public can search the Directory to find a provider in their area who is willing to treat patients with intellectual disabilities. Recent research commissioned by Special Olympics reinforces previous studies that found that despite the widespread belief that individuals with intellectual disabilities receive better health care than the rest of the population, people with intellectual disabilities actually have poorer health, more specialized health care needs and greater difficulty accessing health care services and doctors compared to the general public. "The health of people with intellectual disabilities is much worse than that of people without disabilities," states Mary Helen Witten of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Physicians, nurses and other health care professionals are beginning to recognize that people with intellectual disabilities often do not have their health problems addressed and are often in need of additional health care." The Special Olympics Provider Directory is designed to provide an easy-to-use means for people with intellectual disabilities and their families to find a health care professional in their area. The Directory is expected to be the largest list of health care providers for people with intellectual disabilities in the United States. Health care professionals sign up for the Directory on a voluntary basis and the Directory is meant solely to facilitate the connection between a person with intellectual disabilities and a health care professional. Special Olympics cannot guarantee that the information it receives is up to date nor does Special Olympics endorse the qualifications of the health care providers listed in the Directory.