Presentation Abstract

Bridging from Physical Activity to Competitive Sport: What Are the Implications?

Individuals with disabilities who are wheelchair users are more likely to live sedentary lifestyles and thus experience a disproportionate rate of chronic disease. Yet, for those who engage significantly in physical activity, additional effort is needed to mitigate the risk of sport-related injury and illness. Athletes with disabilities are at higher risk of musculoskeletal injury to the upper limb due to chronic overload incurred in both sport and daily activity. Additionally, athletes with certain background disability types (e.g. spinal cord injury) are uniquely susceptible to illness related to the autonomic system (e.g. autonomic dysfunction, poor thermoregulation), and other factors such as urinary tract illness or skin breakdown while participating in sport. This lecture will outline the current evidence on sport-related injury and illness in athletes who are wheelchair users, while also describing the benefit of participation from the standpoint of health and community integration. Although studies have demonstrated that athletes with disabilities experience unique patterns of injury and illness compared to athletes with no disability, more work is needed to monitor this risk longitudinally and to understand its impact on function and quality of life over time.

About Dr. Blauwet

Cheri Blauwet is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She serves as Director of the Kelley Adaptive Sports Research Institute. Dr. Blauwet is also a former Paralympic athlete in the sport of wheelchair racing, competing for the U.S. Team in three Paralympic Games—Sydney '00, Athens '04, Beijing '08—and bringing home a total of seven Paralympic medals. She is also a two-time winner of both the Boston and New York City Marathons.

Translating her background as an athlete to the clinic setting, Dr. Blauwet now serves as a Member of the International Paralympic Committee’s Medical Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as well as numerous other leadership roles throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Movement. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Harvard Medical School Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award and was named one of Boston’s “Ten Outstanding Young Leaders” by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, she was named by the Boston Business Journal as one of the “40 under 40” community leaders. She has become a global advocate for the use of sport and physical activity to promote healthy lifestyles for all individuals with disabilities. She was a guest at the White House as well as the keynote speaker at the Boston celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dr. Blauwet did not disclose any conflicts of interest for this workshop.