617 - The Impact of Implementing a Community Wellness Program in Adaptive Athletes: Community Integration and Overall Wellness Outcomes

Friday, February 20, 2026

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM AST

Presenting Author(s)

VS

Victoria J. Smith, DO, MS

Resident Physician
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department, Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia, United States

Co-Author(s)

JB

James Barnes, MD

Resident Physician
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department, Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia, United States
MC

Mary E. Caldwell, DO

Associate Program Director
Physicial Medicine & Rehabilitation Department, Virginia Commonweath University
Richmond, Virginia, United States
JO

Jessie Oldham, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Richmond, Virginia, United States
JR

James Rimmer, PhD

Professor
School of Health Professions at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
CB

Caitlin Berry, OTR/L

Health & Wellness Outcomes Manager
Sportable
Richmond, Virginia, United States

Submitter(s)

VS

Victoria J. Smith, DO

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia, United States

Objectives: Regular physical activity promotes overall health and helps maintain functional independence, however half of individuals with physical disabilities are inactive. Improvements in wellness have been demonstrated in the hospital setting following the implementation of the Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition to Optimize Resilience (MENTOR) wellness program, but it has never been implemented in a community setting. The objectives of this study were to implement MENTOR in a community setting and demonstrate similar wellness outcomes to non-community based implementations.

Design:
This was a prospective quality improvement study to investigate the ability to deliver a MENTOR at the community level. 44 participants met the following inclusion criteria: having a permanent physical disability, cognitive skills to follow instructions virtually, and time commitment to attend the classes. All participants completed pre-program questionnaires through RedCap to enroll in the program. MENTOR consisted of five, one-hour live group classes per week for eight weeks attended via Zoom. 40+ hours of instruction were provided across 11 evidence-based wellness domains.

The NCHPAD Wellness Assessment (NWA) was administered before and after participation in MENTOR to assess overall wellness in three dimensions of health: physical, mental, and emotional/spiritual. A post-program qualitative feedback survey was also included to assess participants’ experiences. All participants consented to participate in MENTOR and voluntarily completed questionnaires.

We used paired samples t-tests to compare performance on the NWA before and after the MENTOR training.

Results: Participants reported significantly higher satisfaction with their overall physical, mental, and emotional wellness after completing the program (pre: 29.6 ± 9.8, post: 35.2 ± 7.9, t(22)=2.73, p=0.01). There was also a significant increase in satisfaction after completing the MENTOR program in regard to managing physical pain (pre: 31.3 ± 9.2, post: 36.5 ± 10.3, t(22)=2.23, p=0.04).

Conclusions: MENTOR is an effective wellness program for adaptive athletes that can feasibly be implemented in a community environment.