A method developed for categorizing various postures assumed during performance of activities of daily living by older adults is presented. The system is designed so that observers can simply and easily identify a posture and place it into the appropriate category. The method was found to be easily learned with a short training session and highly reliable. Postural categories are identified which are high in frequency, involve gross postural changes during meal preparation sequences and may cause injury to older adults. Suggestions are offered to restructure tasks and environments to reduce the frequencies of these “problem” postures.
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