Why Activity Participation Matters
Active engagement in meaningful activities is essential for physical and mental health, protecting against cognitive decline and depression. But when illness, injury, or life changes disrupt daily routines, healthcare professionals face a critical challenge: how do you reliably measure what's changed, understand what matters most to your clients, and create interventions that actually work?
Traditional assessment tools often capture only part of the picture – either providing objective scores without context, or gathering qualitative information that's difficult to track over time. You need both: validated measurement AND person-centered priorities that drive meaningful action planning.
That's exactly what ACS3 delivers.
EVIDENCE YOU CAN TRUST
Built on Decades of Research
ACS3 is the digital evolution of the Activity Card Sort, originally developed in the 1980s by Dr. Carolyn Baum at Washington University. The original paper version demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including internal consistency (α = 0.83) and test-retest reliability (ICCs .71-.98), and has been used in over 100 published studies across diverse clinical populations worldwide.
The Digital Transformation: ACS3 maintains the proven methodology while adding digital precision, accessibility, and efficiency. Validation studies confirm:
- Strong parallel forms reliability with the original paper version (Spearman's rho ≥ .836)
- High acceptability among users (mean score 3.6/4.0)
- Demonstrated validity across multiple populations including stroke survivors, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and community-dwelling adults
These findings are documented in peer-reviewed validation studies published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Boone et al., 2022; Gahlot & Goverover, 2025) and OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research (Anthony et al., 2024).
PROVEN RESEARCH IMPACT
Advancing Occupational Therapy Research
The Activity Card Sort methodology has contributed to breakthrough research in occupational therapy, appearing in numerous peer-reviewed publications examining:
- How dementia and head injuries alter activity patterns
- Changes in participation following stroke and recovery trajectories
- The relationship between anxiety, depression, and daily activity engagement
- Activity patterns in multiple sclerosis, autism spectrum disorder, and Parkinson's disease
- The effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions
- Factors influencing community reintegration and social participation
ACS3 continues this research legacy while making participation measurement more accessible, accurate, and actionable for both clinical practice and research.
Clinical-Grade Security, Universal Accessibility
We are in compliance with common data security, individual privacy, and application accessibility regulations and standards.
