The preimplementation phase involves a human-centered co-design process to identify and integrate evidence-based gamification features into the Jooay App. Additionally, we will codevelop informational materials to guide KBs and users in maximizing app engagement. KBs will receive training on the gamified app, along with codeveloped dissemination materials (eg, videos and infographics). Training will emphasize active engagement, including writing reviews, adding activities, notifying organizations of their inclusion in the Jooay database, participating in the “Community Connecting to Play” shared KB journals, and engaging with Jooay social media.

The KB strategy will be implemented and evaluated using an ITS. This approach is well-suited for assessing the effectiveness of population-level health interventions and testing their impact on specific outcomes within a defined impact model. We will conduct a multisite ITS study, accounting for the KB interventions in 5 different provinces. KBs who participated in previous Jooay studies will be invited to participate in a focus group to (1) review past KB practices, (2) rank strategies based on perceived effectiveness, (3) identify contextual factors influencing implementation, and (4) refine strategies for different settings. New KBs will be recruited and trained through interactive online workshops in purposefully selected provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, and Yukon) and across sectors (families, youth, health, and education). KBs will identify new activities, update program information in their provinces, identify populations who may not know about the app, and develop strategies to disseminate within these provinces and promote the app to users (youth, families, clinicians, and educators) and community organizations within their scope of reach. Their insights will inform a 2-fold approach to innovation, sustainability, and use: (1) an automated system to optimize resource identification and updates within the Jooay database, and (2) an organic, human, and community-led dissemination process.

We will evaluate the effectiveness of the app use on users’ engagement and participation in the community through two phases: (1) a nonrandomized mixed methods pilot feasibility study at the individual level and (2) an ITS study of the Jooay App implementation at the community level. Participants will include clinicians, parents of youth with disabilities of all ages, youth with disabilities aged 14 years and older, and educators. They will be recruited from the current user-base of the Jooay App (over 6000 users across Canada), through rehabilitation centers, community organizations, and schools that are part of the Jooay App research group, and social media and partner organizations’ mailing lists.

This study will be conducted in 5 provinces and 1 territory in Canada, with a focus on health care and community settings. A purposeful sampling strategy and a maximum variation sampling technique will be used to recruit KBs across provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, and Yukon—these are the provinces where Jooay activities are most developed and previous KB strategies have been used), living in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and speaking French or English.

For the pilot feasibility study of the mobile app, youth with different disabilities from different provinces and age groups (14‐29 y), parents, clinicians, and educators, living in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and speaking French or English will be recruited.

KBs will be recruited across multiple Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, and Yukon) and sectors (health, education, community organizations, families, and youth networks). Recruitment will follow a purposive and network-based strategy. Existing KBs and community partners involved in previous Jooay initiatives will first be invited to participate in an online focus group to review prior brokering strategies and identify contextually relevant approaches for scale-up. Additional KBs will be identified through professional networks, stakeholder recommendations, and community organizations (“natural” KB networks), including clinicians, educators, rehabilitation program managers, community leaders, and information hubs. Interested individuals will receive an email invitation outlining study objectives, procedures, and time commitment. Electronic informed consent will be obtained prior to participation. KBs will receive CAD $100 (CAD $1=US $0.72 as of March 1, 2026) per month for 6 months in recognition of their participation.

Prior to implementation, KBs will complete an online readiness-to-implement questionnaire informed by the capability, opportunity, motivation–behavior (COM-B) model [25]. The questionnaire will assess capability (knowledge of Jooay and inclusive leisure resources), opportunity (access to relevant professional and community networks), and motivation (intention and perceived importance of dissemination) [25]. Results will inform tailoring of training and support strategies. KBs will participate in monthly online meetings (Microsoft Teams) over 6 months. Meetings will include structured check-ins on dissemination activities, discussion of barriers and facilitators, and peer exchange of strategies across provinces. At the first meeting, KBs will determine preferred communication channels for ongoing exchange (eg, WhatsApp; Meta Platforms, Inc, or other group platforms). Meeting minutes and field notes will be documented for process evaluation. In the second meeting, we will provide a workshop on the new gamified version of the Jooay App. The latter meetings will be structured around the COM-B model based on the readiness to disseminate survey results. One meeting will focus on capability (knowledge of Jooay and inclusive leisure resources), another on opportunity (access to relevant professional and community networks), and one on motivation (intention and perceived importance of dissemination). KBs will be responsible for 3 main aspects. The first is identifying adaptive and inclusive leisure activities in their province. The second is sharing updated program information with the Jooay team. The third is disseminating the Jooay App to youth, families, clinicians, educators, and community organizations through existing networks. KBs will document dissemination activities using an online activity log. At the end of the 6-month implementation period, semistructured individual interviews will be conducted with KBs via Microsoft Teams. Interviews will explore dissemination experiences, perceived effectiveness of implementation strategies, contextual barriers and facilitators, and sustainability considerations. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Process data will include monthly meeting notes, KB activity logs, and workshop evaluations. Qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. Deductive coding will be guided by the CFIR, with attention to intervention characteristics, inner setting, outer setting, characteristics of individuals, and implementation processes. The 2 researchers will independently code transcripts and resolve discrepancies through discussion. Descriptive statistics will summarize readiness-to-implement scores and dissemination indicators.

After signing the consent, during the preparation phase for the pilot study, each participant will receive a tutorial guide for the Jooay App test version. This guide will include instructions on how to navigate and use the app’s various features. Following this, the primary author (EM) will meet individually with each participant, either in person or through an online video call, for an onboarding meeting. During this meeting, participants will be guided through the process of downloading and installing the app on their device, ensuring they feel comfortable with the setup and settings. Participants will have the opportunity to ask any initial questions or concerns regarding the app or study procedures. During the study period, participants will be encouraged to use the Jooay App regularly, engaging with its gamification features to support their participation in leisure activities and work toward their set goals. The research team will be available to answer questions, resolve technical issues, and provide additional guidance as needed. Participants will have direct access to the researcher via email and phone, allowing them to reach out at any time for assistance or clarification. Participants will agree on the periodicity and format of reminders they want to receive to use and engage with the app (eg, weekly, biweekly, monthly email reminders, text messages, or no reminders). The prompts and reminders will be registered in a participant’s “journal” for reference on the types of reminders that might contribute to higher or lower engagement. The preferred frequency and modes will be integrated into the broad public test version as in-app push notifications, email, or text reminders for users. At the end of the study, participants will complete an online survey on Microsoft Form (Multimedia Appendix 1) to capture their overall experiences and perceptions of the Jooay App, covering aspects such as user engagement, satisfaction with specific app features, and any perceived impact on their participation in leisure activities. Participants will be invited to individual semistructured interviews (Multimedia Appendix 2 for interview guide) via Teams to provide clarification and depth to their answers and experiences.

Following the completion of the pilot feasibility study, the gamified version of the app will be deployed to all users at the community level. The date of deployment of the gamified version will serve as the intervention point for an ITS analysis. This design was selected because gamification will be introduced at the app or community level and cannot be randomized across users once it is deployed. The ITS design will allow us to examine whether the introduction of the gamified version is associated with changes in the level and/or trend of engagement outcomes compared with patterns observed during use of the previous nongamified version. Engagement data will be extracted from in-app analytics and aggregated at monthly intervals. The preintervention segment will include monthly data from the previous nongamified version of Jooay, and the postintervention segment will include monthly data after deployment of the gamified version. We will include a minimum of 12 monthly time points before and 12 monthly time points after deployment to allow the estimation of baseline trends, postintervention changes, and seasonal patterns. Seasonality will be assessed through visual inspection of monthly trends. If seasonal patterns are identified, models will include calendar month indicators. We will also document other major app updates, holidays, school calendar periods, or external events that may influence engagement and consider these in adjusted or sensitivity analyses. Engagement outcomes will be measured using both backend and frontend indicators. Backend engagement measures will include app usage frequency, number of accesses, duration of use, and feature usage as captured through in-app analytics. Frontend engagement measures will include engagement with community-based features for youth users and the inclusion of community play and leisure activities within intervention plans developed by clinicians and educators. Additionally, following the deployment of the gamified version, participation in leisure will be assessed using newly co-designed in-app features that capture the number of activities users plan and attend, as well as users’ self-reported satisfaction and perceived achievement. These outcomes will be examined descriptively and longitudinally during the postintervention period to explore patterns of participation over time and their association with app engagement.

The implementation outcomes of this study include both process and intervention-related measures. The implementation process will be analyzed using the CFIR, focusing on outer setting, inner setting, and individual characteristics. The outer setting includes external influences such as patient needs, resources, and organizational networks. KBs recruited from each setting will undergo an initial assessment to identify key considerations, constraints to sustaining the KB role beyond the study, and an intake analysis of individual actions. These factors will be examined in initial KB analyses, monthly KB meetings, and a post hoc multisite analysis. Additionally, external factors such as cosmopolitanism (organizational networking), peer pressure, and policies or incentives supporting leisure-related outcomes will be assessed to determine their role in technology adoption and resource integration. The inner setting includes organizational characteristics affecting implementation, including team culture, intervention compatibility, goal-setting structures, leadership engagement, and implementation climate, which will be analyzed qualitatively through meeting minutes from monthly KB sessions. Individual characteristics, including KBs’ beliefs, knowledge, self-efficacy, and personal attributes influencing implementation, will be assessed during onboarding interviews with the research coordinator. User characteristics (eg, disability type, age, socioeconomic status, language, and technology familiarity) will be analyzed preimplementation during user-centered design activities and pilot testing. These insights will inform KBs’ strategies and interventions.

The implementation and intervention outcomes will assess the expansion of KB networks using social network analysis, as well as the growth in Jooay App users and their engagement levels. Additionally, partners with lived and living experiences (PWLEs) identified increased community awareness of leisure activities as a key implementation outcome, emphasizing its significance in post-COVID public policy and service restructuring. This outcome will be measured through quantitative indicators, including social network analysis and the number of new organizations and activities added to the app during the intervention period, compared with previous registration cycles.

We will have frequent meetings (bimonthly) with the Jooay App research team, which includes knowledge users, to give updates on the project’s progress and get their feedback on all steps of project development. Prior to the meetings, the research team members receive a plain-language infographic summarizing the activities, action points, and “questions that need your attention” to be discussed during the meeting. Youth, families, and community partners are offered alternative ways to meet (eg, youth in the past have preferred to meet individually with the principal investigator or research coordinator; parent partners may prefer to have conversations over Facebook; Meta Platforms, Inc or WhatsApp instead of email exchanges). The community at large is informed of project advances through monthly newsletters (opt in through email or social media), social media channels (Instagram; Meta Platforms, Inc, and Twitter), and the Facebook group “Community Connecting to Play.” The KBs will have a monthly meeting to exchange progress, ideas, and advances. Additionally, the progress report will be sent to the CHILD-BRIGHT Steering Committee and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (the funding agency) annually.

In collaboration with the team, including PWLEs, educators, clinicians, and others, we will develop a summary of the project’s outcomes in lay language, available in both English and French. The format, including short videos, will be determined in collaboration with our partners. Additionally, we will create an infographic and poster summarizing the outcomes, which will be shared with knowledge users through various social media platforms, including the Jooay Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, as well as through the CHILD-BRIGHT social media platforms, and our newsletter. Dissemination will be further supported by multiple community partners, including Abilities Online, Ability Center, ParticipACTION, AlterGo, and others, who will share the materials with their members and networks. Additionally, the results of the project will be presented at scientific conferences and will be published in at least 2 scientific journals. In addition, the stakeholder dialogs and knowledge circles will be organized to present results and discuss the scalability and sustainability of the Jooay App and KB networks.