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Practice Management/Leadership

Empowering Physiatrists to Support Adaptive Athletes: Outcomes from an Interdisciplinary Educational Workshop

Thursday, October 23, 2025
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM MT
Location: Original Research Theater

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Catherine Stauffer, MD,MS

    Resident Physician
    UPMC Medical Education PM&R Program
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AG

    Amanda Garver, DO

    Spinal Cord Injury Fellow
    University of Cincinnati Medical Center/College of Medicine PM&R Program
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Disclosure(s):
Catherine Stauffer, MD,MS: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: Adaptive sports improve health outcomes and encourage community involvement for people with disabilities, but access to these programs can be limited. Physiatrists and allied health professionals can play a pivotal role in supporting athletes with disabilities but may feel under-equipped to volunteer at adaptive sporting events. We evaluated whether an educational workshop improves clinicians’ self-reported confidence and readiness to support adaptive athletes.

Design: Single-arm pre-post survey study.

Setting : Adaptive sports workshop hosted at an academic medical center.

Participants : Eighteen healthcare professionals and trainees (physiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, prosthetists/orthotists).

Interventions: A half-day workshop featuring instruction on medical volunteer roles, hands-on adaptive equipment training, and a panel discussion with adaptive athletes. Topics covered included recognition of medical emergencies, transfer assistance training, disability etiquette, and community engagement.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants' self-rated confidence (five-point Likert scale) in assisting wheelchair transfers, recognizing medical emergencies, discussing disability, and understanding roles in adaptive sports both pre- and post-workshop. Participants were also assessed for intent to volunteer at an adaptive sporting event in the next year.

Results: 94% of participants reported comfort with wheelchair transfers after the workshop, and 89% said they felt comfortable identifying medical emergencies, compared to 56% and 61% pre-workshop, respectively. 61% said they felt comfortable troubleshooting issues with adaptive sports equipment, improved from 33% prior to the workshop. All participants reported being somewhat or extremely likely to volunteer in adaptive sports within the next year.

Conclusions: An interprofessional educational intervention enhanced provider intent to engage with adaptive sports. Incorporating adaptive athletes as educators enriched learning and emphasized the role of physiatrists in bridging clinical care and community participation. Academic rehabilitation programs should adopt similar models to address barriers to adaptive sports and support activity among individuals with disabilities.