Numerous studies have shown the various health and social benefits from sport participation across populations of people with disabilities (Aitchison et al., 2021). Alternatively, multiple studies have supported the effectiveness of the community health worker (CHW) system in serving marginalized populations in addressing unmet social needs and health inequities (Brown et al., 2020; Vallières et al., 2018). No studies could be identified that focused on the subpopulation of Latinx with mobility impairments (LwMI), who face multiple forms of marginalization and have unique cultural needs that could be well served by an integrated system of CHWs in disability sport participation.
Adaptive Athletics at the University of Houston is a community-based, peer-led sport program that offers a template in serving LwMI, and the proposed project aims to develop and validate the intervention from the observed benefits of disability sport participation in combination with peer-led mentorship based on CHW systems on LwMI. The measurements of success include economic stability and community engagement. A randomized wait list-controlled with repeated measures (pre, post) mixed within- and between-subjects design will be employed to examine the intervention effect. The interventions will consist of opportunities for sport participation in conjunction with formal mentorship. Two cohorts each with 30 LwMI (60 total participants) be recruited and received the intervention.
With well-rounded resources and environment (e.g., population access, programing experiences, supporting system), the proposed project will not only provide a platform and direct service in improving LwMIs’ lived experiences, but will also build an innovated system that is sustainable, applicable to other group contexts, and powerful as a tool to drive long term social change.
