Real-World Functional Skills, Measured and Strengthened
An interactive platform that evaluates and trains essential everyday skills — from online banking to medication management — giving individuals practical tools to maintain independence.
Featured in Research
Outcomes & Impact
Training reduced avg. errors by up to 97% across key everyday tasks.*
Money Management
86–93%
Medication Management
89–97%
Internet Management
86–97%
Transportation Management
86-88%
Improvements seen after up to 12 weeks of FUNSAT™ training, 1-2 times a week for 30-60 minutes.
*Based on published peer reviewed research with individuals with either mild cognitive impairment or normal cognition.
How FUNSAT™ Works
Designed for Real People, Backed by Science
Easy to get started
Works on most computers and tablets
Easy to implement
EMR integration and integrated workflow
Easy to use
Automated scoring, reports and follow-up recommendations
Easy to operate
Continuous training and support
Who Benefits from FUNSAT™
Making an Impact Across Every Level
For Physicians, Medical Groups & Specialists
- Streamlined functional skills screenings and training
- Actionable clinical insights
- Improved documentation & potential reimbursement
- Enhanced Patient Engagement
- Efficient Referral Management
Managed Care Health Plans
- Early detection of and training of functional skills decline
- Improved member engagement
- Cost containment without ER or hospital metrics
- Supports quality and compliance goals
ACO’s, MSO’s & Health Systems
- Supports Value-Based Care Contracts
- Reduces Clinical Burden
- Enhances Patient Engagement
- Strengthens Provider Performance
- Scalable Across Networks
Pharma, CRO’s & Other Research
- Optimize Clinical Trial Participant Selection
- Optimize Clinical Trial Outcome
- Validated Digital Tools with research support by the NIH
- Cost-effective and Easy to Access Digital Tools
Publications
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Maintenance of Technology-Based Functional Skills Training Gains in Older Participants with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Booster Training
Lin et al., The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2025)
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Maintenance of Technology-Based Functional Skills Training Gains in Older Participants with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Booster Training
SUMMARY
The current study examined training gains maintenance over time and the role of booster sessions on sustaining training gains for the technology-based Functional Skills Assessment and Training program (FUNSAT™) in older adults with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
The findings support the efficacy of the FUNSAT™ training program as most participants maintained or increased their training gains over time, and that the booster training was beneficial in terms of sustaining gains, indicating that booster sessions play a critical role in skills training.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Interpreting self-report measures about cognition: What matters and what to do with the data: A commentary on “Awareness of baseline functioning and sensitivity to improvement in older people with and without mild cognitive impairment receiving a computerized functional skills training program
Mahncke, International Psychogeriatrics (2025)
International Psychogeriatrics
Interpreting self-report measures about cognition: What matters and what to do with the data: A commentary on “Awareness of baseline functioning and sensitivity to improvement in older people with and without mild cognitive impairment receiving a computerized functional skills training program
SUMMARY
Biomarker tests of brain health may be positive, neuropsychological and functional measures of cognition may be positive – but will the patient’s personal experience with their cognitive performance be in alignment with these measures? Harvey and collaborators dig into this issue, with a careful analysis of the correlations between neuropsychological, functional, and self-report measures of cognitive function at baseline and the relationship between change scores on these measures after a cognitive training intervention.
Harvey and colleagues suggest a different approach – that cognitive training programs (and presumably any behavioral intervention targeting cognition, e.g., exercise, nutrition, mindfulness) should include components designed to improve the accuracy of participants’ awareness of their cognitive abilities.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Awareness of baseline functioning and sensitivity to improvement in older people with and without mild cognitive impairment receiving a computerized functional skills training program
Harvey et al., International Psychogeriatrics (2024)
International Psychogeriatrics
Awareness of baseline functioning and sensitivity to improvement in older people with and without mild cognitive impairment receiving a computerized functional skills training program
SUMMARY
The objective of the study was to examine the relative ability of participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to self-assess their cognitive performance and training gains.
Participants with MCI underestimated their performance deficits at baseline. Self-reports of changes in everyday functioning do not track the substantial objective changes. Previous studies have reported a lack of sensitivity to training gains in several different conditions. Strategies to increase awareness of training gains may be required to sustain treatment benefits.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS ASSESSMENT
Migration of digital functional capacity assessments from device resident to cloud-based delivery: Development and convergent validity
Harvey et al., Schizophrenia Research: Cognition (2024)
Schizophrenia Research: Cognition
Migration of digital functional capacity assessments from device resident to cloud-based delivery: Development and convergent validity
SUMMARY
Decentralized clinical trials are leading to rapid changes in assessment technology, including an expansion of interest in remote delivery. As technology changes, some of the updates include migration to fully cloud-based software and data management, with attendant differences in hardware, response modalities, and modifications in the level of tester engagement. We present comparative data on successive generations of two widely used functional capacity measures, the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool (VRFCAT) and the Functional Capacity Assessment and Training System (FUNSAT).
Four samples of healthy older individuals completed either the original device-resident, computer-administered versions, or cloud-based, tablet delivered versions of these tasks. For the FUNSAT, performance and correlations with age and cognitive task scores were generally similar across versions for English Speakers, though there were some differences related to the testing language for the cloud-based version. These results support the feasibility of migrating digital assessments to cloud-based delivery and substantiate fundamental similarity across delivery strategies.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS ASSESSMENT
Novel measures of cognition and function for the AD spectrum in the Novel Measures for Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Trials (NoMAD) project: Psychometric properties, convergent validation, and contrasts with established measures
Hyun Kim et al., Alzheimer’s and Dementia (2024)
Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Novel measures of cognition and function for the AD spectrum in the Novel Measures for Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Trials (NoMAD) project: Psychometric properties, convergent validation, and contrasts with established measures
SUMMARY
This study derived composite scores for two novel cognitive measures, the No Practice Effect (NPE) battery and the Miami Computerized Functional Skills Assessment and Training system for use in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials. Their psychometric properties and associations with AD risk markers were compared to those of well-established measures.
Highlight were that well-established cognitive tests may not accurately detect subtle cognitive changes. No Practice Effect (NPE) and Computerized Functional Skills Assessment and Training are novel measures designed to have improved psychometric properties. Novel measures had better psychometric properties compared to established measures. Significant associations with Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers were found with novel measures.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Association of Racial Status and Training Language with Baseline Performance and Training Gains During Computerized Training of Technology-related Everyday Functional Skills In Older Adults
Macchiarelli et al., The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2024)
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Association of Racial Status and Training Language with Baseline Performance and Training Gains During Computerized Training of Technology-related Everyday Functional Skills In Older Adults
SUMMARY
Research consistently finds that lower baseline performance predicts greater gains with computerized training. Lower baseline performance can originate from many factors, including educational and environmental disadvantages, leading to reduced exposure to functional tasks. Across six computerized technology-related functional skills, baseline performance and training gains were compared across race and training language.
Lower baseline performance of functional skills was found to be a positive predictor of training gains and was efficiently reversed through training. Even participants who initially appeared more impaired achieved substantial gains, congruent with the results reported in psychiatric populations. Critically, low baseline competence should not be interpreted as reflecting negatively on potential training gains.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
The Efficacy of a Home-Based Functional Skills Training Program for Older Adults With and Without a Cognitive Impairment
Czaja et al., Innovation in Aging (2024)
Innovation in Aging
The Efficacy of a Home-Based Functional Skills Training Program for Older Adults With and Without a Cognitive Impairment
SUMMARY
The performance of everyday technology-based tasks, such as online banking or shopping, can be challenging for older adults, especially those with a cognitive impairment. Technology-based tasks are cognitively demanding and require learning new skills. This study explored the efficacy of a technology-based functional skills assessment and training program (FUNSAT) among aging adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in home settings.
Implications of the study were that nonimpaired aging adults and those with MCI can learn to perform technology-based everyday tasks. Further, home-based technology training protocols are feasible for aging adults with and without a cognitive impairment.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Improvements in performance based measures of functional capacity and cognition after computerized functional skills training in older people with mild cognitive impairment and healthy comparators
Harvey et al., Psychiatry Res. (2024)
Psychiatry Research
Improvements in performance based measures of functional capacity and cognition after computerized functional skills training in older people with mild cognitive impairment and healthy comparators
SUMMARY
A computerized skills training intervention, FUNSAT, previously produced training-related gains in cognition in MCI and in comparators with normal cognition (NC). A new remotely delivered version of FUNSAT was, in this study, administered to a new sample of participants with NC and MCI.
Computerized functional skills training improved performance-based measures of cognition functional capacity. Changes were 3–4 times as large as expected practice effects. Changes in these two outcomes were similar in magnitude in participants with MCI and normal cognition. Computerized cognitive training added to skills training led to greater gains per training session.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Computerized Cognitive and Skills Training in Older People with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Index Treatment Related Changes in Real-World Performance of Technology-Dependent Functional Tasks
Dowell-Esquivell et al., American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2024)
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Computerized Cognitive and Skills Training in Older People with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Index Treatment Related Changes in Real-World Performance of Technology-Dependent Functional Tasks
SUMMARY
The study addressed the question of whether a fully remote cognitive and functional skills training program improved real-world performance of technology-based tasks, measured with daily ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in older adults with normal cognition and mild cognitive impairments.
EMA assessments demonstrated statistically significant increases in activity of both trained and untrained technology-related activities. These findings provide compelling evidence that a fully remote functional skills training program is both practical and efficacious, as well as providing benefits for real-world functioning.
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Association of Racial and Ethnic Status with Performance of Technology-Related Functional Skills: Associations with Baseline Performance and Gains with Training
Grant Akalonu et al., American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Poster Presentation (2024)
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Poster Presentation
Association of Racial and Ethnic Status with Performance of Technology-Related Functional Skills: Associations with Baseline Performance and Gains with Training
SUMMARY
In this study we hypothesized that educational attainment and baseline cognitive status would predict lower baseline performance on technology tasks, but that training gains would show a reduced correlation with these factors compared to baseline performance. Racial and ethnic status were not expected to correlate negatively with training gains, particularly after consideration cognitive status and academic achievement.
Minority status individuals performed more poorly on baseline assessments of technology-related everyday activities than white participants and Black participants also had more cognitive impairment and reduced educational attainment. However, training gains were greater for the participants with more baseline challenges and their gains with training were significantly greater than white participants. Thus, functional skills training, although moderated by baseline impairments, overcame baseline differences in performance.
What Customers and Users Are Saying
Frequently Asked Questions
FUNSAT™ is a 6 Modules, 3rd generation, evidence and technology based functional skills assessment and training platform. It is designed to help people regain their prior functional skills or assist them with the acquisition of new functional skills such as those needed to manage emerging and existing technologies.
A cognitive assessment is an evaluation of a person’s abilities related to, for example memory, attention, reasoning, pattern recognition, language, and problem-solving skills. A functional skills assessment measures practical abilities necessary for daily life, work, or education, with different assessments focusing on different specific life skills (e.g., the ability to organize medication, use public transportation or manage finances). These assessments can evaluate a person’s level of independence in performing daily tasks, inform the need for support services, and help set goals for education or therapy.
It only takes one to two weekly training sessions for 30 to 60 minutes and FUNSAT™ can be trained in a group setting at a professional facility such as a memory clinic, a mental health facility, a community center or when convenient at home. Programs typically last between 6 and 12 weeks with follow-up re-assessment and training booster sessions at appropriate times.
Currently FUNSAT™ covers the following activities: Online Banking, ATM Banking, Metro Ticket Kiosk, Phone Prescription Refill, Online Pharmacy Shopping and Prescription Refill, Medication Label Comprehension and Medication Organizer. More modules are in development.
No special equipment is required, as the FUNSAT™ works on most computers and tablets with a Wi-Fi or LTE connection. Recommended minimum screen size for tablets are 9.7 inches and 11 inches for laptops and Chromebooks.
