Ensuring that the health workforce is adequately trained and equipped to care for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is an important step in realizing quality health care for this population.
Few training programs for health care professionals include curriculum on caring for people with IDD, resulting in a workforce that may be unprepared to treat this population. This may lead health professionals to misattribute symptoms to the disability rather than the physical cause, resulting in inadequate and/or delayed treatment. This lack of training is a significant barrier to achieving equitable health for people with intellectual disabilities.
When health workers receive targeted training on how to care for people with IDD, they are not only more confident in their practice, but patients also feel more heard and understood. Health professionals trained to care for patients with IDD have reported higher levels of improved knowledge and awareness.
Special Olympics offers a variety of resources designed to support provider training.
Golisano School for Health Sciences
The Golisano School for Health Sciences is Special Olympic’s dedicated e-learning portal. Its flagship course, Inclusive Health Fundamentals, equips current health professionals and health students with best practices for caring for patients with IDD.
The curriculum is designed for flexibility. It can be integrated into classroom instruction to complement existing coursework or used as a self-paced resource for independent study.
“The Inclusive Health Fundamentals online curriculum has been a transformative addition to my teaching and to my students’ understanding of inclusive fitness and health promotion. It provides a strong, evidence-based foundation that bridges academic learning with real-world inclusive practices. Integrating the curriculum into our new Inclusive Fitness Training class has elevated our discussions around equity, accessibility, and the social determinants of health. This curriculum has also given students concrete tools to support individuals with intellectual disabilities in fitness and wellness settings. “
The Center for Inclusive Health
Launched in 2018, the Center for Inclusive Health, made possible by the Centers for Disease Control, is a virtual hub designed to help health care providers, fitness and wellness professionals, professional associations, and businesses find resources to become more inclusive in their health practices and programming. The Center for Inclusive Health is a powerful tool to help ensure people with IDD are included in mainstream health policies, laws, programs, services, training, research, and funding streams.
Standardized Patient Program
Special Olympics launched the Standardized Patient Program in 2024 to give future healthcare professionals hands-on experience in caring for individuals with IDD. Through this program, Special Olympics recruits and trains Health Messengers to serve as standardized patients in clinical simulation activities. These athletes simulate patient interactions and share firsthand insights about communication and care considerations for individuals with IDD.
"[The Health Messengers’] feedback, and especially their words greatly impacted me. Statements such as 'I want a human connection…' or 'I’m not an autistic adult, I’m an adult with autism,' [from the Special Olympics athlete] touched me, and reminded me of the human side of health care that often gets lost in clinical training. The Health and Global Messengers helped me better understand the importance of communication, empathy, and creating space for people to process difficult information at their own pace."
To access Special Olympics Health Training materials, visit elearn.specialolympics.org/health to create a free account.
For more information on Special Olympics Health Training programs or to learn how you or your institution can get involved, contact us at HealthEducation@specialolympics.org
