It’s never too late to recognize an individual who has done so much to help out their community or a specific part of the community for a sport they are passionate about.
Such is the case with North Vancouver’s Carol Yakiwchuk became Canada’s first-ever winner of a Golisano Health Leadership Award, recognizing her dedicated volunteer work with Special Olympics British Columbia to help address the significant health disparities facing individuals with intellectual disabilities.
A dental hygienist and educator with more than 20 years’ experience, Yakiwchuk volunteers with Special Olympics BC’s Healthy Athletes program, serving as one of three provincial Special Smiles Clinical Directors alongside Kelly Blundell and Nancy Vertel.
Currently the Oral Health Manager for the First Nations Health Authority, Yakiwchuk has practiced as a clinician, educator, researcher, administrator, and community health dental hygienist.
She has worked as the Dental Hygiene Practice Consultant for the British Columbia Dental Hygienists’ Association, and has served as an Educator at Vancouver Community College and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.
Yakiwchuk holds a diploma and a bachelor of science degree in dental hygiene from the University of Manitoba and a master’s degree in health studies and leadership from Athabasca University.
Yakiwchuk has been a Special Olympics Healthy Athletes volunteer for five years, during which time she has provided significant help to improve B.C.’s health programming, particularly the Special Smiles dental screenings.
At Special Olympics Healthy Athletes screenings, individuals with intellectual disabilities get important health information from volunteer health professionals trained to help draw out issues, and their interactions lead to referrals back into the health care system that ensure the individuals will get the treatment they need.
Yakiwchuk is one of approximately 32 global recipients of the Golisano Health Leadership Award in 2016.
The worldwide recipients have been selected based on their work related to year-round efforts to increase access to quality health care, programming and resources for people with intellectual disabilities including expanding Healthy Athletes, impacting follow-up care and/or wellness programming, increasing the financial sustainability of Special Olympics health programs, and advancing the health rights of people with intellectual disabilities.
In her previous role as a dental hygiene instructor at Vancouver Community College, and in her involvement with the British Columbia Dental Hygienists’ Association, Yakiwchuk raises awareness among dentists, dental professionals, and students about the health issues facing individuals with intellectual disabilities, and she recruits others to volunteer at SOBC’s Healthy Athletes events.
Yakiwchuk has also developed an important relationship with Patterson Dental Canada, leading to vital support with resources to give individuals with intellectual disabilities and equipment for screenings.
Thanks to Yakiwchuk’s advocacy, Vancouver Community College selected the Special Olympics population as an upcoming recipient in their “Gift from the Heart” program.
Through an event in April 2017, a number of Special Olympics BC athletes will receive a full dental exam free of charge at a clinic run by VCC dental hygiene students under the supervision of instructors and dentists.
Launched in 2016, the Golisano Health Leadership Awards recognize the extensive work of individuals and organizations around the world who are improving the health of people with intellectual disabilities and advancing the year-round health work of Special Olympics.
The awards also raise awareness of the significant health disparities that continue to be experienced by people with intellectual disabilities, one of the largest and most medically underserved disability groups in the world.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, millions of individuals with intellectual disabilities lack access to quality health care and experience dramatically higher rates of preventable disease, chronic pain and suffering, and premature death in every country around the world.
Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis mentioned “The Golisano Health Leadership Award is the Special Olympics Movement’s highest honour for health partners and individuals.”
The 2016 Golisano Health Leadership Awards honour approximately 32 individuals or organizations around the world where Healthy Communities has been launched – from Paraguay to Romania, South Africa to Thailand, and right here in British Columbia.
Of those honourees, seven recipients from the seven Special Olympics regions around the world will be selected to receive the global award, which will be announced at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria in March 2017.
