A black-and-cream runner laid out to guide people through a hospital campaign rally in Bristol has led to an unexpected clinical finding: high-contrast stripes on the floor can help some people with Parkinson’s keep walking when their feet seem to stick. In a trial published on Sunday, participants using the mats had fewer freezing episodes than those walking on a plain surface.
The idea came from Constance Gusikowski, a retired school meals supervisor who was helping at the rally on 15 February 2025. She watched her husband freeze at the edge of the runner, then take several steps across its stripes. “I thought, that’s odd — he’s walking without thinking about it,” she said.
From rally runner to trial
The rally was held outside East Quay Hospital, where campaigners were opposing plans to reduce rehabilitation services. Gusikowski mentioned what she had seen to Matheus S. Guerreiro, a neurologist who had come to speak with patients. He arranged a small test using temporary striped mats at a nearby clinic; the early results persuaded his team to run a larger study.
That study enrolled 96 adults at three clinics in Bristol and Bath. Of the 84 who completed it, participants had a median 31% fewer freezing episodes while walking across the striped mats than on plain flooring. Their time over a 10-metre (33-foot) walking course also improved by 18%, according to the trial results.
He looked down, saw the bands, and his feet went.
Constance Gusikowski, rally volunteer
Gusikowski said she had never expected a crowded campaign event to produce a medical lead. “People were talking about a service they might lose. Then this little strip of carpet did something none of us had planned,” she said. She helped the clinic recruit participants, but did not take part in analysing the results.
A cue patients can carry
Guerreiro said the visual pattern appears to give the brain a clear target for each step, a technique related to cueing already used in Parkinson’s rehabilitation. The mats in the study were portable, washable and made from ordinary floor material. “It isn’t a cure, and it won’t work for everyone,” he said. “But it is a practical extra, and the effect was large enough to test properly.”
The team cautioned that the trial was small and followed participants for only six weeks. It did not measure whether the improvement lasted at home or reduced falls. Researchers now plan a longer study, including people who use walking aids, and say patients should ask a physiotherapist before changing their routines.
For Gusikowski, the result has brought an improbable sense of victory to a campaign that did not save every service it set out to protect. “We went there to make noise about rehabilitation,” she said. “We came away with something people can actually put under their feet.”
