Research domains
The research area prevention and rehabilitation throughout the lifespan at LUNEX focuses on the motor system as the foundation of optimal movement. The movement system is the integration of body systems that generate and maintain movement at all levels of bodily function. Human movement is a complex behaviour within a specific context, and is influenced by social, environmental, and personal factors.
Monitoring an individual’s movement system across the life span is key to promoting optimal development, diagnosing dysfunction, and providing interventions targeted at preventing or ameliorating restrictions to activity and participation.
The World Confederation of Physical Therapy defines physical therapy as a service, provided by physical therapists in circumstances where movement and function are threatened. These threats include ageing, injury, pain, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors and with the understanding that functional movement is central to what it means to be healthy. Following this definition, the vision of this research area is to understand how the movement system is affected by disease, injury, lifestyle, development, and ageing, and how movement can be used to promote health by enhancing physical function, activity, and participation across the lifespan.
More specifically, the research area aims to identify and investigate the structural and functional contributing factors to the movement system impairments and to provide effective strategy for the assessment, prevention and rehabilitation throughout the lifespan. The research area focuses on the following research domains: diagnosis and treatment of the movement system impairments, rehabilitation in patients with chronic cardiorespiratory conditions, skeletal muscles and nerves biomechanics and physiology, adaptation and validation of assessment tools.