Sport and recreation for Indigenous peoples with neurodevelopmental disabilities in Canada: an empty scoping review and call to action.
Grant Bruno, Stephanie Andreasen, Mariam Ahmad and 6 others
PMID 42621408WHAT IT FOUND
A search of health, education and sport databases and grey literature found no Canadian study of sport or recreation for Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
That absence is the finding: there is nothing here to guide a program.
Key findings
01The search identified 326 records; 18 went to full-text review and all 18 were excluded, leaving no study eligible for the review.
02Records were excluded because four were not about disability, four covered only physical disability, four were news stories with no data, three did not include Indigenous people, and three treated neurodevelopmental disability and Indigenous identity separately.
03The authors say the empty result reflects a structural gap in how disability inclusion, Indigenous self-determination and sport are connected in research and policy, not a sign that the area is unimportant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Because no study was eligible, the review reports nothing about whether sport or recreation helps Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The gaps it describes are inferred from the absence of literature and from neighbouring scholarship, not from any included study. Only English-language publications were searched. Only material published from 2000 onward was considered, so older work is excluded by design. Search terms from outside Canada were kept at the search stage and Canadian context was required only at full-text review, because the authors judged the field sparsely and inconsistently indexed.
Declared interests
The authors declared that financial support was received for the work. It was funded by the Women and Children's Health Research Institute, which is supported by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation and by a Special Olympics Canada Research Grant. Three of the authors work for Special Olympics Alberta or Special Olympics Canada.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that sport and recreation do not help Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The review found no studies to evaluate, so it shows a gap in the research, not a lack of benefit.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →