FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
FUNCTIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
Commentary On “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”
Rebok, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32(4), 460–462 (2024)
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Commentary On “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
This peer-reviewed commentary discusses the trial in which older adults with normal cognition or MCI completed remote computerized cognitive and functional skills training and were followed with ecological momentary assessment (EMA). The underlying study moved beyond improvement on a laboratory or training task by asking whether participants changed how they performed technology-dependent activities in everyday life. Rebok places that question within the broader cognitive-intervention literature, where evidence of transfer to daily functioning is a central standard for judging practical value.
FUNSAT™ is important in this context because it directly teaches contemporary functional skills and produces measurable gains that can be compared with behavior outside the training platform. The commentary highlights the significance of pairing FUNSAT™ with intensive EMA data: gains were connected to increased real-world performance of trained and untrained technology-related activities, providing a stronger test of meaningful benefit than test-score change alone. This framing supports FUNSAT™ as a practical, remotely deliverable intervention whose value can be evaluated in terms of independence and everyday technology use.
