Every day, therapists at the Centre de réadaptation Marie Enfant (CRME) at CHU Sainte-Justine offer rehabilitation and social integration services to young people with physical disabilities. Therapists at the CRME have the ambitious task of encouraging young people to push their limits and surpass themselves in their therapeutic exercises: A task that can be made easier with virtual reality and video games, which offer a fun and engaging environment to practise repetitive movements. The games also give children with disabilities an extra opportunity to socialize.

However, virtual reality and video games in a clinical setting comes with its own challenges, such as a lack of time, access, technical support and resources to find and prepare the right games for patients. That’s where the Technothèque project comes in. Our goal is to address those challenges so we can offer better therapeutic interventions and social activities for patients at the CRME.

We have a 50 square metre room with video game consoles and virtual reality headsets. It’s a place for children, families, therapists, researchers and game developers to meet, chat and play. We offer consultation and training services to teach therapists how to set up and play the games and to encourage them to share knowledge. We’re working on developing new games for children with disabilities and online educational resources for therapists and families across the province.

Project submitted by:

Audrey Ferron, student

Contributors:

Evemie Dubé – LaboINSPIRE Coordinator
Lexie Lançon – Occupational therapist and master’s student, UdeM, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation
Danielle Levac – Researcher and Associate Professor, UdeM, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation, Head of the Musculoskeletal Health, Rehabilitation and Medical Technologies Axis
Julia Pinotti – Physiotherapy technologist and undergraduate student, UdeM, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation