National older driver research program launched at University of Florida

Losing driving privileges spells the loss of independence for many elderly people, and in many cases family and friends are drawn into conflict when trying to persuade loved ones to give up their car keys. So for what reasons should a person give up driving? Who will do the grocery shopping, banking and other errands?

These questions and related challenges are the focus of investigation by a new National Older Driver Research and Training Initiative launched at the University of Florida.

A $1.6 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Highway Administration is supporting the project, aimed at helping older people remain independent by promoting safe driving, offering interventions to help people drive safely longer and providing counseling, education, and training on alternatives to driving.

“We must better understand how to assess driving performance as America’s population ages,” said William Mann, Ph.D., who is directing the project as part of the UF Seniors Institute for Transportation and Communications. “Not only are the numbers and proportion of older Americans increasing, but a greater proportion of seniors continue to drive, and the incidence of injury and fatality resulting from motor vehicle crashes involving seniors continues to grow at a rate faster than that of the overall population.”

To launch the project on a solid foundation, UF researchers hosted an international conference last month in Arlington, Va. at which driving experts from around the nation reached a consensus on best methods for assessment, remediation, and transitioning to non-driver status. Mann said the protocols recommended at the conference will be tested by UF researchers at driving rehabilitation sites in Jacksonville, Orlando and the Gainesville/Ocala area.

“We plan to develop reliable and valid approaches to determining the fitness of elders for unrestricted or restricted driving, and develop approaches to solve problems related to unsafe driving,” said Mann, a professor and chairman of occupational therapy at UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. “Our faculty also will study the relationship between driving performance and age-related physical and cognitive decline, and chronic diseases such as dementias, severe arthritis, diabetes and visual impairments.”

Mann added that UF’s research and training efforts will focus on interventions that extend the functional capabilities of older drivers to increase their ability to drive safely. The challenges naturally include identifying risk factors associated with unsafe driving in later years of life.

“We need more reliable and cost-effective methods for testing driving ability at night as well as during daylight hours and under various conditions, such as inclement weather and heavy traffic,” Mann said. “We need to determine the effectiveness of compensatory strategies (using devices or adapting the car or road environments) and examine the impact of policies for partially restricting driving for older persons who have difficulty driving in certain environments, such as on expressways.”

Widespread need for more trained experts in driving assessment will also be addressed through the newly funded center.

“Our center is partnering with the American Occupational Therapy Association to develop a model site for educating occupational therapists as driver safety intervention specialists who can assess the driving ability of clients, offer training and/or equipment to enable a person to drive safely and provide information and counseling regarding transportation alternatives,” said Dennis McCarthy, the center’s co-director. “Occupational therapists make up most of the health-care professionals now serving as driving specialists. They’re trained to evaluate the physical, sensory and cognitive tasks of daily living, including driving.”

McCarthy said fewer than 300 certified driving rehabilitation specialists are now working in the United States — not enough to meet the demands of a large elderly driving population. He also noted that current screening programs to identify driving problems are not standardized, and the effectiveness of existing programs has not been tested.

UF researchers also plan to evaluate the costs of policies that restrict driving in both social and economic terms, as well as the multiple effects that driving restrictions have on the quality of life of older Americans.