Rarely a Good Idea to Do Two Things at Once

It is not uncommon to find literature in rehabilitation journals advocating for clinicians to design dual-task or divided attention tasks in order to improve a patient's walking and balance performance and/or reduce their risk for falls. It is difficult to understand just where this framework originated. Perhaps it is due to the unscientific claim of some clients being distracted when they fall. However, there is little evidence to support this claim Instead, maybe the concept comes from the breadth of literature showing there is a degradation of balance with concurrent cognitive tasks But as we will discuss, this should come as no surprise, and in fact should be expected. Anyone who thinks about the first time they sat behind the wheel of a car, has tripped or run into another individual while using their phone when walking, or burned their dinner while attempting to cook, clean, and do laundry at the same time should attest: It is not wise to do multiple tasks at once.