OAKVILLE, Ontario, June 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The CHILD-BRIGHT Network, a Canadian patient-oriented research network focussed on pediatric brain-based developmental disorders, and Ehave, Inc. (OTCQB: EHVVF), a healthcare company dedicated to empowering the mental health community with next-generation digital solutions, today announced the start of enrollment for the CHILD-BRIGHT Mega Team research project trial, a Canadian-developed video game-based cognitive intervention that aims to improve executive functions in children with brain-based developmental disabilities such as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), or born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD).
In Canada, as many as 850,000 children under the age of 14 are living with a brain-based developmental disability, many of whom struggle with executive functions such as self-regulation, attention, impulsivity, and academic efficiency and accuracy. CHILD-BRIGHT investigators at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), with industry partner Ehave, have developed Mega Team, a series of innovative cognitive rehabilitation video games to improve executive functions
The clinical trial, led by Dr. Jennifer Crosbie, Associate Scientist in the SickKids Research Institute and Principal Investigator of the project within the CHILD-BRIGHT Network, will enroll 460 children between the ages of 6 and 12 with ADHD, ASD or CHD. Children will play a series of games that target response inhibition time and working memory. Via in-clinic assessments at the start and end of the trial, and again 3 months later, the research team will measure improvements in executive functions, attention and self-regulation.
“Currently, cognitive rehabilitation interventions geared to improving cognitive deficits associated with neurodevelopmental disorders place high demands on families for professional supervision, are expensive, and have minimal established impact on behavioural regulation,” says Dr. Crosbie. “Our Mega Team game is innovative because it is a non-pharmacological intervention that is carried out at home, via an online gaming platform, and that requires very little trainer supervision. Because the game’s platform is engaging, children are motivated to play.”
Industry partner Ehave developed the mental health informatics solution Ehave Connect. The Ehave Connect platform efficiently and effectively captures data from intake to assessment to diagnosis to treatment plan to outcomes. It gives mental health clinicians and researchers a complete picture of their patients using tools they already rely upon and provides access to innovative solutions such as the CHILD-BRIGHT Mega Team game. Mega Team training is tracked on the platform, and outcomes are available to the researchers to visualize the performance over time.
“We feel there is strong clinical potential for the Mega Team game in children with ADHD, ASD and CHD,” said Prateek Dwivedi, CEO of Ehave. “The trial with the CHILD-BRIGHT Network is an important step to validate the treatment impact of Mega Team with high-quality clinical rigour. It is only with this validation that clinicians, parents, and patients can feel confident in the efficacy and safety of our digital therapy as a drug-sparing or drug-reducing treatment option.”
A pilot of the Mega Team project supported by the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) and the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental (POND) Network was carried out in 2017 and provided initial evidence that game-based cognitive rehabilitation may be a promising intervention for executive function deficits.
CHILD-BRIGHT Mega Team enrollment information is available at www.child-bright.ca/megateam or by contacting the project coordinator at [email protected] or 416-813-8210.
Project Funding Partners
The CHILD-BRIGHT Mega Team project is funded by the CHILD-BRIGHT Network, under the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) initiative, with support from the SickKids Foundation. Early development work and pilot funding for the Mega Team project was funded by the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI), Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental (POND) Network and in-kind support from industry partner Ehave. Dr. Crosbie is supported by the Susan Bradley Health Clinician Scientist Award in Child & Youth Mental Health and the O’Brien Scholar Program.
About the CHILD-BRIGHT Network
The CHILD-BRIGHT Network, headquartered at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), is an innovative pan-Canadian network that aims to improve life outcomes for children with brain-based developmental disabilities and their families. Using child- and family-focused approaches, we work to create novel interventions to optimize development, promote health outcomes, and deliver responsive and supportive services. Co-Directed by investigators at the BC Children’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), CHILD-BRIGHT is made possible thanks to a five-year grant by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), and 27 generous funding partners from public and private sectors across Canada. www.child-bright.ca
About Ehave
Ehave, Inc. (OTCQB: EHVVF) is empowering the mental healthcare community with a next generation of data-rich tools designed to improve patient management, diagnosis and treatment. With Ehave Connect, Ehave’s mental health informatics platform, clinicians can make objective, data-driven decisions while keeping patients informed and engaged throughout their mental healthcare journey. Ehave Connect offers a powerful set of core features that integrate with a growing selection of tools and applications developed by Ehave and its leading partners, including Multi-Health Systems (“MHS”), a leading publisher of psychological assessments. Ehave is initially focused on improving the standard of care in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”), through its collaboration with the Hospital for Sick Children (“SickKids”). Ehave Connect is also being utilized to advance the validation and optimization of medical cannabis, through its collaboration with leading medical cannabis licensed producers. www.ehave.com
Media Contacts
Christine Marcotte
Communications Manager
CHILD-BRIGHT Network
[email protected]
(514) 412-4400 ext. 23928
Prateek Dwivedi
CEO, Ehave
[email protected]
(905) 362-1499
Investor Relations Contact
David Kugelman
[email protected]
(866) 692-6847
SOURCE Ehave, Inc.
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