LONGEVITY FOR EVERYONE: HOW SPECIAL OLYMPICS IS CLOSING THE GAP

Longevity is a buzzy topic—everyone is looking for new and proven ways to stay healthy as they age. One group, however, is regularly left out of this important conversation: people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). But they’re the exact people who should be included.

According to global research done by Special Olympics, folks with IDD have significantly shorter life expectancies than the general population. In fact, they tend to live 16 to 20 years less and, in many cases, die from chronic health conditions that are preventable.

But Special Olympics is working to bridge this gap by providing health screenings and care through its Healthy Athletes program. The Healthy recently spoke to Special Olympics chief health officer, Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, and Special Olympics athlete and global health messenger, Allen Tobin, to learn more about Healthy Athletes and how they’re on a mission to help this community live longer, healthier lives.

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The Healthy: According to a report published by Special Olympics, people with IDD die an average of 16 to 20 years earlier than the general population. Can you explain what’s driving that gap?

Dr. Christakis: Many medical societies, many scientists, and many researchers have collected and looked at the discrepancy in the life expectancy of people with and without IDD. That disparity is due to preventable and treatable causes of illness. We know people with IDD die of heart disease. They die of complications from obesity and reduced physical activity. They die of cancers that aren’t detected early or as early as they could be. Sadly, they also suffer the consequences of mental health conditions that are underdiagnosed.

It’s really a testament to how inequitably healthcare is provided, not just in the United States but globally. And we simply must do better for people with IDD.

The Healthy: Do any of these health conditions stand out as being the most preventable or manageable if people had access to earlier or better care?

Dr. Christakis: We know from decades of research that early diagnosis is the key to effective treatment and to prevention. The biggest is what’s called “the silent killer” in the United States and globally: undiagnosed hypertension. People with IDD are underdiagnosed with hypertension.

The sad reality is that there are very effective, very cheap medications with virtually no side effects that effectively treat hypertension and prolong life expectancy. In addition, physical activity itself reduces blood pressure. Thankfully, participation in Special Olympics is one way people with IDD can get opportunities for more physical activity. People with IDD experience anxiety and depression at five to nine times the rates of people without IDD, and they also report much greater difficulty accessing care for those mental health conditions.

The Healthy: Why do you think this disparity remains so overlooked in the broader conversations about longevity and aging?

Dr. Christakis: For many years, people with IDD have not been an area of emphasis of the research community or the health community in general. Thankfully, the National Institutes of Health recently designated people with disabilities as a population that does suffer health disparities. I hope that will lead to more of an emphasis on how to reduce those disparities.

But the truth is, the healthcare system as it currently functions doesn’t meet the needs of people with IDD because of inadequate provider training, inaccessible facilities, and a general tendency to overlook health problems in people with IDD and wrongfully ascribe them to their IDD rather than to a treatable health condition.

Allen Tobin: There are a lot of doctors out there who are very uncomfortable with even having somebody with an intellectual disability in their office, let alone treating them, because they do not know how to even interact with us, let alone treat us. They have to learn how to talk plainly, not talk down to us, but talk to us as an equal person.

Dr. Christakis: Doctors need to learn how to talk to everybody respectfully, less technically, and meet the needs of all their patients. That’s part of being a doctor.

The Healthy: What are Healthy Athletes screenings? Can you walk through what one might look like?

Dr. Christakis: We make these screenings available at many of our events. It now includes nine different disciplines, and so far we’ve done over two million free screenings around the world. We’ve trained over 300,000 providers all over the world to do them: doctors, nurses, podiatrists, physiotherapists.

It’s staffed entirely by volunteers. They get training before on how to interact with people with IDD and make them feel welcomed and included. The hope is they take that training with them and apply it in their daily care of patients. It’s a joyous, festive experience. People are happy to get their teeth screened, their eyes checked, their earwax pulled out. It shows what is possible if healthcare systems meet the needs of people with IDD in a way that’s respectful and inclusive.

The Healthy: You’ve both stated the healthcare system does not do enough for people with IDD. When does this tend to start?

Dr. Christakis: I think it starts as early as birth. The experience I hear from parents of people with IDD and individuals with IDD is that the moment of first diagnosis is always treated as this huge tragedy, that something awful has happened to your family. It sticks with parents, and it really shouldn’t be presented that way. It shouldn’t be the first experience people have with the healthcare system. Those inequities continue throughout their lives.

The Healthy: Can you tell us more about the new program Linking Athletes to Scientific Opportunities, also called SO-Link? How do you expect it to help close the life expectancy gap?

Dr. Christakis: When athletes register for Special Olympics, they’re asked one very simple question: “Do you want to learn about opportunities for research that you might be eligible for?” We’re an organization that espouses inclusion, and inclusion includes all aspects of society, including the opportunity to participate in research like anybody else does. So, we’ve made that question available since January. So far, over 16,000 of our athletes have said that they do want to have the opportunity to learn about research opportunities, which is extraordinary. It shows that people with IDD, a sizable percentage of them, want to help advance science in the interest of improving their health. The best way to reduce longevity disparities is through science and opportunities to learn how to provide better care.

The Healthy: What has these athletes’ participation in SO-Link made possible that wasn’t possible before?

Allen Tobin: Every single one of us that have IDD is different. There are some that have a severe disability, and then there are some that are like myself, that are high-functioning, and then there are some people that are even higher functioning than I am. You can’t treat the ones that are very high-functioning and the ones that are very low-functioning the same way. The Special Olympics’ slogan is “Nothing about us without us.” In other words, we all have to be part of every single step so you get the correct information, the correct data. Because without our input and telling you what works and what doesn’t, you’re not going to get what you need.

The Healthy: Something that’s becoming more and more apparent in the larger longevity conversation is the benefit of community. How do you think the Special Olympics fits into this larger need and the health benefits it provides?

Allen Tobin: We’ve been doing studies on [the] long-term effects Special Olympics has, and you would be surprised at some of the comments and some of the answers that came back. Myself, I went from being quiet and not very talkative to be able to open up and talk like I am now. Special Olympics gives them confidence, self-respect, and good health that they would not have otherwise.

Dr. Christakis: Participation in Special Olympics was associated with a 50% reduction in the rates of depression for people with IDD. Allen talked about making him feel more confident, more talkative. My guess is that’s part of the larger picture, just feeling better about yourself in general, and that’s reflected in the larger data.

The Healthy: Allen, you’ve been an athlete, educator, advocate, and more as part of Special Olympics. What has the experience been like for you?

Allen Tobin: I’ve been a Special Olympics athlete for more than 30 years, and I have been trained to act as a Special Olympics health messenger, meaning I act as a health and wellness leader. I am also a member of the athlete advisory board, which provides guidance to research and evaluations programs. We help make sure the research, questions, and surveys are worded right.

At the 2026 USA Games, I served as an athlete investigator. I helped recruit athletes to learn about SO-Link and to participate in a point-of-care survey. I also assisted with Healthy Athletes tours. I roamed around with different groups and explained why each screening was important. I also had the chance to participate in the screenings myself. I had old hearing aids. The new ones cost $4,000 a piece, and because of the Healthy Athletes program, I got them free.

The Healthy: What do you want doctors, researchers, and the public to understand about the barriers you or others with IDD face in getting good healthcare?

Allen Tobin: There are several different barriers. One is transportation. I don’t drive, so I have to rely on Uber, Lyft, a friend to take me, or public transportation. Some people may have to go to a totally different city or town to a doctor, and that provides a big challenge.

Another thing is health insurance. When I went to the USA Games in 2022 in Orlando, Florida, I got checked, and they found the start of cataracts. My health insurance at the time didn’t cover cataract surgery or anything to do with cataracts because I didn’t have good health insurance. So, health insurance is the next biggest barrier. Now that I got my disability back and qualified for Medicare, I’m finally able to get surgery.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

2026-07-30T18:03:13Z