Jooay: Connecting Children and Youth with Physical Disabilities to Leisure
Research studies have painted a picture; one that shows children with disabilities often do not spend enough time playing and, as a group, may not have access to recreational opportunities.
Furthermore, “families living in geographically disperse areas face unique challenges in finding activities,” says Dr. Janet McCabe, College of Nursing assistant professor based at the Prince Albert campus. Participation in recreation and leisure activities is crucial for healthy development and quality of life. For these reasons, Drs. Keiko Shikako-Thomas and Annette Majnemer of McGill University’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy initiated development of the Jooay app.
Jooay links children and youth with disabilities to recreation and leisure activities, such as arts, camps and sports that are fun, safe and close to home. The idea for the app was supported by a network of stakeholders across Canada called CHILD LeisureNET. Jooay is one solution proposed to bridge the gap between access to leisure and children with disabilities.
“There are resources for children, there are resources for leisure, but there are very limited resources for children with disabilities and leisure … so we decided to develop this app called Jooay,” says Keiko Shikako-Thomas, co-leader of the project. “We wanted to create a positive community, promoting leisure and facilitating leisure, so that the kids who are doing activities in the same area can connect and meet people.”
Dr. Janet McCabe has joined in to support the collection of resources available in Saskatchewan. “We know that families with children with disabilities can spend a lot of time and initiative finding programming for their children. Jooay provides a simple interface to connect children and families with resources.” In addition, Dr. McCabe hopes that perhaps the app will influence service providers to think about providing inclusive and supportive opportunities.
Help spread the word! If you know of any adapted or inclusive leisure activities in Saskatchewan for children or youth with disabilities that should be added to the Jooay app data base, please contact Janet. Be a part of this great app and help connect children and youth with disabilities to leisure activities, who then get to have fun and improve their lifestyle!
The app for iOs and Android is available free at the App store, Google Play and on the Jooay website.