Walking at work and at leisure - dual-task, age, and health

Gait plays an important functional role in daily life. Despite much research, there are still mechanisms of gait control which are yet to be fully understood. This project will look at different aspects of gait control and stability, attempting to understand how they are related to daily activity and fall risk.

The initial focus of the project has been on distracted walking. The distraction in this case was produced by the use of a mobile phone while walking - both texting and talking. I will aim to provide new information on the influences of these activities on gait stability and fall risk among young adults. The later aim of the project will be to describe the occurrence of gait in different environments - with a focus on the workplace. Large companies have been successful in reducing or nullifying many risks at the workplace but have been unable to fully tackle the risk of occupational slips, trips, and falls. Here I will provide new information on the patterns and variation of gait among employees at Danish workplaces. I will look for any associations with occupation (i.e. blue-collar or white-collar positions) and age. Gait remains a relevant topic for safety in the work environment.

Walking is an important part of functional daily living for many. However, we still do not fully understand how we control our walking and how it is affected by the distractions of daily life - for example multitasking. This project will look at how we control walking, how this may be linked to fall risk, and whether walking differs depending whether it occurs at the workplace or during time off.