A hearing device configured to be worn by a user, the hearing device comprising: a microphone configured to detect an audio signal; an output transducer; a memory; an accelerometer configured to output accelerometer data representative of an acceleration of the hearing device; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, microphone, accelerometer, and output transducer, the processor configured to maintain, within the memory, data representative of a walking detection algorithm, the walking detection algorithm controlled by one or more parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N); determine a walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device; and perform, based on the walking state, an operation with respect to the microphone, characterized in that the processor is further configured to determine an optimized parameter for the user for use with the walking detection algorithm by: detecting a cadence attribute of the user during a time period; and generating the optimized parameter by adjusting, based on the cadence attribute, one or more of said parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N) controlling the walking detection algorithm comprising at least one of a cadence range used by the walking detection algorithm to determine the walking state of the user and an amplitude threshold used by the walking detection algorithm to detect an occurrence of a step by the user; and apply, in accordance with the optimized parameter, the walking detection algorithm to the accelerometer data to determine the walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device. a microphone configured to detect an audio signal; an output transducer; a memory; an accelerometer configured to output accelerometer data representative of an acceleration of the hearing device; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, microphone, accelerometer, and output transducer, the processor configured to maintain, within the memory, data representative of a walking detection algorithm, the walking detection algorithm controlled by one or more parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N); determine a walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device; and perform, based on the walking state, an operation with respect to the microphone, characterized in that the processor is further configured to determine an optimized parameter for the user for use with the walking detection algorithm by: detecting a cadence attribute of the user during a time period; and generating the optimized parameter by adjusting, based on the cadence attribute, one or more of said parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N) controlling the walking detection algorithm comprising at least one of a cadence range used by the walking detection algorithm to determine the walking state of the user and an amplitude threshold used by the walking detection algorithm to detect an occurrence of a step by the user; and apply, in accordance with the optimized parameter, the walking detection algorithm to the accelerometer data to determine the walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device. maintain, within the memory, data representative of a walking detection algorithm, the walking detection algorithm controlled by one or more parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N); determine a walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device; and perform, based on the walking state, an operation with respect to the microphone, characterized in that the processor is further configured to determine an optimized parameter for the user for use with the walking detection algorithm by: detecting a cadence attribute of the user during a time period; and generating the optimized parameter by adjusting, based on the cadence attribute, one or more of said parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N) controlling the walking detection algorithm comprising at least one of a cadence range used by the walking detection algorithm to determine the walking state of the user and an amplitude threshold used by the walking detection algorithm to detect an occurrence of a step by the user; and detecting a cadence attribute of the user during a time period; and generating the optimized parameter by adjusting, based on the cadence attribute, one or more of said parameters (208-1, 208-2, 208-N) controlling the walking detection algorithm comprising at least one of a cadence range used by the walking detection algorithm to determine the walking state of the user and an amplitude threshold used by the walking detection algorithm to detect an occurrence of a step by the user; and apply, in accordance with the optimized parameter, the walking detection algorithm to the accelerometer data to determine the walking state of the user while the user wears the hearing device.