With the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games now in the rearview, many Prince George athletes are heading home feeling healthier and happier than when they arrived.
Special Olympics BC brought a unique program to athletes and residents with developmental disabilities through the Healthy Athletes screening initiative.
The program offers a wide range of health services to athletes at Special Olympics events worldwide. More importantly, it’s open to anyone with developmental disabilities, meaning local residents could also access free screenings by trained Special Olympics staff.
The screenings are designed to detect illnesses or injuries that individuals with developmental disabilities may not recognize or might not report. In many cases, serious medical conditions can go undiagnosed, either due to communication challenges or because doctors aren’t trained in how to work with this population.
“It starts with being healthy, to be the best athlete you can be,” said Bailey Macklem, health c-oordinator for Special Olympics BC. “Unfortunately, this population is sometimes overlooked in the healthcare system. That’s not their fault. That’s not even necessarily the healthcare provider’s fault.
“If they don’t know what they should be looking for, then it’s just something that happens. If we can identify that an athlete needs glasses, that’s going to impact their performance and help them become an even better athlete. That’s why it’s meaningful.”
According to research from Special Olympics BC, approximately:
- 75 per cent of athletes screened had untreated gait abnormalities
- More than 67 per cent had skin or nail conditions on their feet
- Nearly 30 per cent had eye disease
- Just over 20 per cent had mouth pain, missing teeth or foot deformities
- Nearly 15 per cent required urgent dental referrals
The program also provides education about basic wellness, such as the importance of hand-washing and healthy eating.
At the Prince George Games, the Healthy Athletes program welcomed 400 participants and conducted 954 screenings across six disciplines. More than 100 volunteers helped make the initiative possible.
Screening breakdown:
- Fit Feet: 260 screenings
- Fun Fitness: 103
- Healthy Hearing: 120
- Health Promotion: 186
- Opening Eyes: 158
- Special Smiles: 127
More than 100 pairs of prescription eyewear were distributed to athletes, including 30 pairs specifically designed for floorball, a new sport offered this year.
Dr. Brad McDougal, an optometrist from Vancouver who volunteered at the Games, emphasized the connection between vision and athletic performance.
“We want to help athletes perform at their best,” McDougal said. “So much of sports depends on eye-hand coordination, depth perception and visual skills. A lot of athletes competing at a high level don’t have the proper vision correction to reach their peak performance.”
Macklem noted that about one in four participants were referred to a doctor or medical professional after being screened.
“That’s kind of jarring,” she said. “It’s great that the screening caught those issues—but it’s concerning that one in four people had undetected health needs. It really shows how important this program is.”
Foot health was a recurring concern for volunteers and practitioners, including Melonie Millar, a Prince George foot care nurse who helped with the Games.
“We saw some extreme cases—fungal nails that hadn’t been looked at in several years,” said Millar. “We’ll be using a podiatry file to reduce the nails. When they get that bad, people can’t take care of them at home, and they can become severe before help is sought.
“It’ll be very gratifying to get them back to a manageable state and hopefully prevent things like pressure ulcers.”
For Macklem, one of the most rewarding parts of the event was witnessing the appreciation from athletes and coaches.
“Honestly, talking to coaches and athletes who were hoping to get to the Healthy Athletes screening — because they haven’t had one in their community for a while — they were just so grateful,” she said.
“Anytime someone said it helped one athlete, I’d feel the work was worth it. The fact that it helped multiple people, and that people were excited about it ... that really touched my heart.”
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