Golisano Institute Volunteers at Special Olympics Competition

On Saturday, Jan. 20, members of the Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing and students from the Wegmans School of Nursing volunteered at the Genesee Region Floorball Competition hosted by Special Olympics NY, the largest state chapter in the United States.

At Special Olympics events, its Healthy Athletes program provides health services and education to athletes. The goal is to change the way health systems interact with people with intellectual disabilities by providing free health screenings, training for health care professionals, and evaluations of the health state of people with IDD.

At the competition, held at Nazareth University, Dr. Holly Brown, director of the Golisano Institute, and Dr. Elisabeth Dollinger, Golisano Developmental Disability Nursing Fellow, volunteered alongside nursing students Matthew Cieplicki, Madison Galvin, Olivia Radford, Cara Landry, Maria Brooks, and Naomi Cicero. Brown and Dollinger are both clinical directors for the Healthy Athletes program, providing health screenings and education to the athletes.