One in 66 Canadian children has a motor disability that affects everyday activities. While therapy can improve motor skills, it is often difficult for families to access consistently.

Bootle Blast is a movement-tracking video game designed to support motor skill development at home. It motivates children to practice and has been shown in research trials to improve performance in daily activities. However, families currently have no clear pathway to access Bootle Blast outside of research studies.

To address this gap, BLAST-OFF will offer families:

  • Access the technology through a lending library model, and
  • Receive clinician support to guide a personalized home training program.

The BLAST-OFF project team will partner with families, clinicians, and librarians to co-develop and evaluate a training program that builds clinicians’ skills and confidence in using Bootle Blast and managing technology lending workflows. The team will also upgrade the software to enable remote setup and monitoring. BLAST-OFF will be implemented at five partner sites, and success will be measured using co-designed evaluation metrics.

This project will move Bootle Blast from research into real-world practice while establishing an equity-focused model for distributing and supporting health technologies. Findings and resources will be shared broadly to maximize impact.

Award

  • Kids Brain Health Network: $126,139
  • Brain Canada: $180,324

Partners

  • Holland Bloorview
  • Holland Bloorview – Programs and Services
  • Centre de réadaptation Marie Enfant
  • Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
  • Grandview Kids
  • Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital
  • Pearl Interactives
  • Orbbec

Team

Principal Investigator: Dr. Elaine Biddiss

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Sarah Munce

Co-Principal Investigator: Maritza Basaran

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Virginia Wright

Co-Principal Investigator: Sarit Tresser

Co-Investigator: Christine Provvidenza

Co-Investigator: Iveta Lewis