Goal: The goal of the Sports Health Improvement Program (SHIP) pilot study is to determine the feasibility of implementing the SHIP protocols as they have been designed in concept. The program is designed to directly link sports readiness, sports skills development and health for Special Olympics athletes.

Purpose: The purpose of SHIP is to provide athletes with the tools they need to achieve their maximum potential in Special Olympics competition.  Overall, SHIP provides the highest level of integrated health assessments that Special Olympics has to offer combined with modified sports, fitness and nutrition assessments.  When an athlete has completed the SHIP assessment event, he or she will receive an individualized athlete plan (IAP) which contains specific training information and guidance designed to help capitalize on the inherent strengths of the athlete and improve upon the athlete’s limitations in the most efficient and scientifically-based way.

Volunteers: The types of volunteers needed to complete a SHIP program and the minimum number of volunteers needed to process 50 athletes in a reasonable amount of time are as follows:  

1)  Physicians – 3
2)  Nurses -4; Nursing Assistants - 3
3)  Physical Therapy – 4; PT Assistants - 11
4)  Ophthalmologists - 2; Screeners - 3
5)  Audiologists -3; Screeners - 3
6)  Nutritionists/Dietitians- 4
7)  Health and Physical Educators - 2
8)  Allied Health Students -4

The athletes will spend approximately 5 minutes at each station other than the physical exam station and the planning stations which will take approximately 15 minutes each.  The total time of athlete involvement is 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Therefore, to process the 50 Special Olympics Florida athletes it will take 4 hours.

Training: Health care professionals will be trained by the SOI SHIP team.

Follow Up: The athlete receives an individualized athlete plan. The athletes will fill out a training log.  The coach will monitor the athlete’s progress and perform a sports skill assessment test of the athlete at 3 month and 6 months after the assessment.  Results and logs will be collected at month 6.