Special Olympics Study
Dr Mary Rose Sweeney, Senior Lecturer at DCU’s School of Nursing & Human Sciences was invited to give a presentation on the progress to date of the SOPHIE (Special Olympics Programmes Health Impact Evaluation) study at the recent opening of the 2014 Special Olympics Games in Limerick. The SOPHIE study is a unique all-Ireland study which is being conducted over a two year period, 2014-2015.
The study is being conducted by a team of researchers from the School of Nursing & Human Sciences and the School of Health & Human Performance in DCU, in collaboration with Mr Peter Griffin from Queen’s University Belfast and Dominic Trépel, a health economist based in the UK.
The study is examining the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, who are involved and not involved in Special Olympics Programmes to explore whether there are benefits to being involved in Special Olympics Programmes.
The presentation at the Special Olympics opening event, which took place on June 12th, was attended by an audience of cabinet ministers from North and South of the border, members of the Irish Sports Council and some well-known sports personalities including David Wallace, John Tracey and Keith Woods.