Jooay App: Promoting Participation in Leisure

Looking back:
our work in Phase 1

The Jooay App is a free mobile and web app that helps children with disabilities and their families locate accessible leisure opportunities that are close to where they are, suit their needs and abilities, match their preferences, and can help them develop and participate in society. 

Since 2016, Jooay has also become a community, helping parents, rehabilitation professionals, educators, and communities to connect, exchange, and learn from each other. In that time, we have increased our repertoire of activities to close to 3,000 activities across Canada, including over 400 online activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“[During the pandemic] there was a need to listen to the community and see if any needs or supports could be tangibly filled. One need that arose was play: what was available in my area, what was offered online and where could I access it. That need is still present.”
- Rachel Martens, Parent-Partner 

Collaboration and partnership have been cornerstones of our project from the start. Parents and community organization representatives are members of our research teams and provided input at every stage of our project.  

Thanks to this momentum, 2021-22 was a banner year for our engagement with community, policy makers, and other interested parties. In March 2022, we hosted a dialogue on the subject of "Inclusive play in Canada through a mobile health app: research, community, and policy.” We also partnered with the Earth Rangers organization to launch the national Project 2050: Climate-friendly habits to change the world movement. Working with AIDE Canada, we also put together a toolkit to help children with autism and/or intellectual disabilities be active and play. 

An eye to the future: what Phase 2 has in store for us

Building on the success of these past years, we have ambitious goals for Phase 2. We want to increase the number of app users from 4,000 to 40,000 across Canada; we want to identify more play opportunities for children with disabilities; and we want to automatize the database. We will also strengthen our communities of practice across provinces by recruiting local champions who can help identify more inclusive activities in their geographic areas and promote the participation of children with disabilities in leisure in their communities. Using gamification (creating interactive activities that increase motivation and engagement through game-based features and on-screen notifications), we will also build community with children with disabilities, parents, educators, and organizations to enable the exchange of ideas about inclusive play. Finally, we will identify opportunities to build inclusive and healthy communities where all children, with and without disabilities, can play, learn, and develop together.