Handing older drivers the keys to independence New UF service helps seniors drive safely longer

Minette Hendler knows all too well how the aging process can contribute to a decline in driving abilities.

As her late husband’s dementia worsened over a 10-year period of illness and his cognitive skills slipped away, his physician was forced to recommend that he stop driving. Hendler added to her caregiver role the responsibility of helping her husband cope with the loss of independence.

Hendler, 76, recently took the time to get an evaluation of her own driving skills by specialists with the newly launched Independence Drive, an assessment and rehabilitation service offered by the National Older Driver Research and Training Center at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions.

Older drivers can receive assessments of their driving ability by a licensed occupational therapist who specializes in driving rehabilitation. The two-hour assessments include physical, vision and cognitive testing and evaluations of on-road driving skills. For those found to be unsafe drivers, the driver rehabilitation specialist will offer additional services, such as training and/or the use of equipment to enable a person to drive safely, and will provide information and counseling on transportation alternatives.

“The over-65 age group is the fastest growing segment of the population,” said Desiree Lanford, a driver rehabilitation coordinator who performs the assessments. “It is estimated that more than 40 million older adults will be licensed drivers by 2020.”

Although tests showed Hendler is a skilled driver, she learned about some simple modifications that could be made to her car, such as the addition of a grab bar next to the driver seat to make getting in and out of the car easier and adjustments to her rearview mirror to improve visibility.

Introduced last fall, the National Older Driver Research and Training Center is funded by $1.6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Highway Administration.

Directed by William Mann, Ph.D., chairman of UF’s occupational therapy department, the center aims to enable seniors to remain independent within the community by prolonging safe driving and, for those unable to continue driving safely, offer alternatives forms of transportation and services.

In addition to providing a clinical service to seniors, center researchers are working to determine which roadway features are most difficult for seniors to navigate and are testing the best methods for assessment recommended by driving experts at an international consensus conference hosted by UF last winter. The data are being gathered from the center’s assessment programs in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Orlando and from an Ocala site set to open this summer.

“We must better understand how to assess driving performance, and provide remediation and counseling so that older drivers can drive safely just as long as possible,” said Mann.

Independence Drive is located at 5000 N.W. 34th St., Suite 1, in Gainesville. For more information, call 392-8850.