Our Studies

Learn more about the research projects that we completed and  we're currently working on at CanChild.

A child in a red shirt holds up a paper with a large black question mark, covering their face.

Learn more about Current Studies that we are working on

ENVISAGE

Current study

ENVISAGE: ENabling VISions And Growing Expectations, is a series of online workshops developed in partnership by parents, clinicians and researchers across Canada and Australia. ENVISAGE aims to improve parents’ well-being and help them feel more competent, confident and empowered.

COVID Time Capsule

Current study

Learning from the experiences of children with disabilities and their parents throughout the COVID pandemic to improve supports and services in healthcare and education.

C-BiLLT

Current study

Innovative assessment of spoken language comprehension in children with cerebral palsy: Development of the Canadian English Computer-Based instrument for Low motor Language Testing (C-BiLLT).

F-words implementation and evaluation

Current study

The ‘F-words for Child Development’ is a family-centred, strengths-based framework that supports child health and development. No study has evaluated the strategies used to apply the F-words or the impact of the F-words on families, service providers, and organizations.

Partnering For Change

Current study

Partnering for Change is an innovative, collaborative, tiered school-based service delivery model developed for occupational therapists.

MPOC 2.0 - Measure of Processes of Care

Current study

In this study, we want to learn what today’s parents want, need and expect from healthcare services. With this information, we will develop a new tool (MPOC 2.0) that healthcare organizations will be able to use to determine how well they meet the needs of the families they serve. We will also develop information for service providers about what families need and how professionals can best meet those needs.

Co-Design

Current study

Learn how to Engage, Educate, Innovate and Evaluate co-design from equity-based perspective

Autism Workforce Capacity Project

Current study

The aim of the project is to address or grow the therapy workforce to address the service needs for autistic children in the McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH) Autism Program

Job-Train Program

Current study

The Job-Train Program (JTP) is a summer vocational program developed through community-based research and designed to provide training and early paid-work experience for autistic high school students.

Campus Belonging Project

Current study

The Campus Belonging project was initially designed to understand and address the barriers that autistic autistic postsecondary (PS) students face and to enhance their sense of belonging.

Learn more about Studies that we completed

READYorNot™ Brain-Based Disabilities Project

Completed study

With the READYorNot™ Brain-Based Disabilities Project, we are developing and evaluating e-health aids to help patients and families take charge of the transition.

Autism Classification System of Functioning

Completed study

There are many tools that assess the functional status of children with ASD, but no valid and reliable functional classification system exists with which to group children.

Transition

Completed study

The main objective of the TRANSITION Project is to measure “transition readiness” in adolescents and young adults between the ages of 12-25 with a range of different chronic or complex health conditions.

Let's Talk About Sex

Completed study

The purpose of this pilot study is to translate the Dutch educational Board game "SeCZ TaLK" into English, validate its use across cultures, and evaluate how useful it is and how it is used by youth with childhood-onset disabilities or ongoing (chronic) health conditions in Canada

The Back2Play App Study

Completed study

The Back2Play App will help guide children and youth through the CanChild Return to Activity and Return to School protocols by incorporating biological feedback, movement data and cognitive assessments.

MyStory

Completed study

The MyStory Project will study the physical health (fatigue and pain), mental health (anxiety and depression), chronic stress, and overall well-being in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with Cerebral Palsy (CP) between the ages of 13-30.

Move & PLAY Study

Completed study

The purpose of this study was to follow a large number of children over a period of one year to gain an understanding of factors associated with motor function, self-care, participation and play of young children with cerebral palsy (CP).

On Track

Completed study

The On Track Study (2012-2017) was a large multi-site collaboration involving researchers, therapists, families, and children with cerebral palsy (CP) from across Canada and the United States.

INCLUDE

Completed study

INtegrated serviCes for incLUsion anD Equity

Parenting Matters!

Completed study

As part of this project, we have undertaken a national review of the legislation, policies and programs that exist to support children and youth with a neurodevelopmental disorder and their families.

The ApplyIT Study

Completed study

This pilot study responds to the need for a systematically well-designed research approach to developing evidence-based transition tools that are affordable, easily implemented in healthcare systems, and applicable to the majority of youth with chronic health conditions.

Brain Smart- Let's Play Safely!

Completed study

Concussion is on the rise among youth involved in organized sports. This project plans to develop, implement, and evaluate a concussion strategy aimed at coaches, parents and youth throughout Hamilton minor sports with the ultimate goal to reduce the incidence of concussion.

Congregate Living and COVID-19

Completed study

Congregate living settings supporting individuals with neurodevelopmental intellectual and developmental disabilities experienced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Study

Completed study

This project involves determining how useful two different approaches to rehabilitation are at improving concussion symptoms and the individual's overall quality of life.

The effectiveness of community participation on body functions

Safely Returning Children and Youth to Activity after mTBI/Concussion

Completed study

The decision regarding return to activity following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)/concussion is one of the most difficult and controversial areas in concussion management.

BEST SIBS

Completed study

Research study developed to understand siblings experiences with their brother or sister with a brain-based disability (i.e., autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or spina bifida) who is in high school and preparing for health care transition in Ontario.

COVID-19 supports for people with disabilities and caregivers

Completed study

In this study we want to get a better understanding of the current situation of people with disabilities at the time of coronavirus.

Multimorbidity Risk Assessment and Prevention

Completed study

This project has generated significant findings about the value and importance of measuring multimorbidity risk in adolescents and adults with CP in clinical research settings.

Developmental Coordination Disorder Physiotherapy Modules

Completed study

The current proposal will develop and evaluate the use of a web-based DCD educational resource for PTs that will support evidence-based changes in their practice.

Youth Engagement in Research

Completed study

The Youth Engagement in Research study aims to develop training opportunities with and for youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities to support their knowledge, skills, and confidence as research partners.

Looking for More Studies?