One of our Health Equity Interns, Dylan Hogan and his Research Advisor, Lorna Hayward were featured in Northeastern News about their involvement in Volt hockey.
Volt hockey, a new sport to North America, is a 3 vs. 3 game adapted for people with disabilities from the sport of hockey. The game uses specially designed battery powered hockey sport wheelchairs, controlled by a joystick, with a wooden paddle in front used to control the ball.
Dylan’s introduction to volt hockey resulted from his community service obligation for Dr. Hayward’s Contemporary Issues in Health Care honors course, where he was assigned to the nonprofit organization Boston Self Help Center (BSHC), run by and for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. There, he became involved with the BSHC’s new volt hockey program, coaching their new team the Boston Whiplash to the sport’s World Cup in Sweden.
The success of the BSHCs Whiplash program has motivated Dr. Hayward’s project in creating an adaptive sports team through the university with the goal of increasing equity to in both access to sports for people with disabilities as well as the physical and mental health benefits that come with sports participation. Along with assisting in the creation of an adaptive sports team on campus, a grant from the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research – An Advancing Health Equity Pilot Award will allow their research team to “collect physical metrics – like biometrics, heart rate and blood pressure – to see if it increases with the activity.”
Dylan will be continuing to support the sport by working with Dr. Hayward on this project. To read more about Dylan’s story in launching volt hockey in Boston, click here