Promoting Inclusive Care: SOVT Athletes Support UVM Student Training
- Special Olympics Vermont
- May 6
- 2 min read
On April 21st, SOVT athletes and Health Messengers Nicole and Kate participated as standardized patients in an educational simulation for University of Vermont students in the LNA program. By acting as patients, they helped the students gain experience working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and providing inclusive care. Integrating these scenarios into healthcare education promotes best practices for inclusive health and helps make healthcare more accessible for everyone. We asked Nicole and Kate a few questions about their experience—take a look at what they had to say!
NICOLE
Describe what you were doing with the UVM nursing students?
“This was for UVM nursing students to do a simulation on patients with disabilities to find out more about IDD.”
What were some of the things they did in the simulation?
“Taking the temperature, taking the pulse, we had a script to follow.”
What was the experience like for you?
“It felt good to be the patient, and help others learn the skills to be a better LNA. As a health messenger, I am presenting how people without disabilities can work in their careers to better understand what we need in our care. It was a little frustrating, I wasn’t super prepared. But when I got into my role I was able to ease into it and know what I was going to do.”
What are some practices that work or don’t work for you when receiving medical care?
“It works for me when they slow down the process, and do things one at a time. It’s very helpful when nurses or doctors talk to me directly. Being able to break down information to help me understand what they are talking about.”
KATE
Describe what you were doing with the UVM nursing students?
“I was portraying a Special Olympics athlete who had fallen and broken her tibia, and they acted as my nurses”
What were some of the things they did in the simulation?
“They took our vitals, showed us where our food was, asked us questions … Wearing that fake wound was really cool!”
What was the experience like for you?
“Good. They did as well as they could, for me it brought up memories of when I was in the hospital and dealing with that kind of thing.”
How did it feel to help them learn?
“It felt amazing because I know my doctors have made big mistakes in the past and hopefully these nurses will learn not to make the same mistakes.”
What are some practices that work or don’t work for you when receiving medical care?
“The worst thing is when I am treated like a little kid, I am an adult just like you. What works really well is when people are going to tell me what they are going to do before they do it.”
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