Capacity Training and Building Activities

What is the MATADOC?

The MATADOC is a rigorous evidence-based assessment of awareness, and an evaluation and treatment planning tool for music therapists working with people who are minimally responsive, or people whose awareness is unknown due to profound brain damage. This includes people born with brain damage, who have had a stroke, or who might have acquired brain injury through accidents such as road traffic accidents, gunshot wounds, drowning or falls. It helps professionals understand the person’s responses to music and plan appropriate care or treatment.

With which populations can it be used?

People with complex needs resulting in ‘minimal’ responsiveness e.g. 
• adults and children in vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or minimally conscious state following trauma, accident or illness; 
• adults with late/end-stage dementia; 
• adults with advanced neurological illnesses (e.g. Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington’s Disease); 
• children and adults with profound and multiple developmental disabilities; 
• children and adults with end-stage terminal illnesses/at end-of-life. 

The MATADOC has been standardized and validated through research as an assessment of awareness for use with adults with disorders of consciousness (Magee et al., 2014 & 2016). It has been validated as a useful companion to the “gold standard” measure of awareness in disorders of consciousness, the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (Magee et al., 2023). It has established clinical utility for use with people with end-stage dementia (Magee et al., 2022). The pediatric version (the MuSICCA) is currently being validated (Pool et al., 2020) and has established face validity as a measure of consciousness for children and youth (Pool et al., 2025).

Which clinical settings?

• Rehabilitation settings
• Skilled nursing care and other nursing home settings for diagnosis, treatment planning and evaluation of ongoing treatment
• Intensive care

What does the first level training involve?

• Three online synchronous meetings  
• Experiential sessions
• Video observations prior to the synchronous meetings
• Asynchronous practice between synchronous meetings
  Participants will learn: to understand the clinical presentation of people with disorders of consciousness (DoC); to implement the MATADOC protocol; to complete the MATADOC documentation; how to formulate a diagnosis; and how to communicate the assessment findings to interdisciplinary teams and families. At the heart of this training is experiential work using video observation, practicing the protocol, and learning through case scenarios. Training tools include handouts and training videos that are accessible post-training to assist professionals in applying classroom learning to clinical session. Please note: attendance of all synchronous sessions is required and recording of the sessions cannot be provided.

About the MATADOC XXXIXth International (Online) Level 1 Training

This course was a one-time offer through the four-year project Culture and Health Platform in Sweden, co-funded by the European Commission.