Special Olympics Ireland Health Messengers
Special Olympics Ireland would like to introduce our very first team of Health Messengers. A Health Messenger is a Special Olympics athlete who has been trained as a health and wellness leader, educator, advocate and role model within their Special Olympics clubs and the wider community at large.
Meet the Health Messengers
Margaret Turley
Joe McNamara
Una Coates
Patricia Larkin
Aoifé McDermott
Danielle Cantwell
Deirdre Nevin
Emma Doolan
Jonathan Deering
Barry Olwill
The Health Messenger program is empowering athletes to: develop healthy lifestyles; influence other athletes to lead healthier lives; advocate within their communities for inclusion around health and wellness services, education and resources; and develop leaders to advocate for the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
Empowerment: Health Messengers are trained and confident in their ability to act as peer leaders and role models within their Special Olympics communities for fitness and preventative health programs.
Community Impact: Health Messengers lead activation within their broader communities and with their peers to raise awareness and influence other community members to be more inclusive of people with ID.
Leadership and Advocacy: Health Messengers catalyse and support external organizations to work toward making their services, programming, or policies more inclusive.
