Two years ago we set out to develop a touchscreen based cognitive assessment that could be given to a patient just prior to, or during a therapy session. Our mission was to have access to a report on cognitive function, so that intervention could begin sooner. It was very important that we developed a tool that performed the way we wanted/needed it to, and that was enjoyable to deliver. We spent
a year in development, and then another year in beta testing followed by normative data collection. The end result is an assessment tool that we named STAC or Standardized Touchscreen Assessment of Cognition. STAC is an automated cognitive assessment tool, comprised of 15 sub-tests, that runs on an iPad. New and different is STAC's ability to include time and accuracy as measures of performance. Raw and percentile scores are generated in a 4 page report that is immediately available for a clinician to interpret. One of the unintended benefits of this new assessment tool is that it allows the clinician to observe the patient's interaction with the test, thereby providing a more functional glimpse into performance.
