Most older drivers self-monitor their abilities to operate a car. A number of organizations have developed self-assessment tools.
Driving Assessment
Web Resources
Administration on Aging
www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/pages/agepages/drivers.html
This site links to a fact sheet covering age-related changes and how they affect driving, tips on self-assessment and information on alternatives to driving.
AARP Caregiving: Driving and Transportation Concerns
www.aarp.org/confacts/caregive/transportation.html
Tips for caregivers about assessing older-adult driving and action alternatives to help the older driver stay on the road longer are important points of this AARP-sponsored site.
American Medical Association
Physician's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers
www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/10791.html
This book is available online. The publication offers physicians a guide to assessing older drivers, recommendations for talking to patients who should cease driving and state laws about reporting.
American Occupational Therapy Association
Keeping Older Drivers Safe on the Road
www.aota.org/featured/area6/links/link02aq.asp
This brochure discusses how occupational therapists trained in driver evaluation and rehabilitation can evaluate an older adult's ability to drive by testing his or her vision, reaction time, strength, judgment and endurance.
Books, Pamphlets and Programs
AARP
Older Driver Skill Assessment and Resource Guide (Creating Mobility Choices)
This informative booklet includes many useful questions that help people assess their comfort with a variety of driving situations. The booklet also includes a number of important safety tips and reminders.
Order number D14957
| Contact: |
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AARP Fulfillment
EE 01251
601 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20049
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The American Occupational Therapy Association
Building Capacity to Meet the Needs of Older Drivers
There is a shortage of occupational therapists trained to assess and provide rehabilitation to older drivers. The American Occupational Therapy Association provides continuing education to occupational therapists on older-driver issues, and seeks to integrate training curricula on older-driver assessments and rehabilitation into schools of occupational therapy.
Contact: www.aota.org
Older Driver Safe Mobility Program
This is a pilot communications program designed to promote conversations about older-driver safety and explore ways in which communities can make it easier and safer for older adults to get around and make appropriate driving choices. The program is in the pilot-test phase and will be available to the general public in 2004.
The kit includes communications materials designed to reach older adults, policymakers and local media. It will also include a pretested survey to administer at a community site. The survey will help to measure the needs and attitudes of older drivers regarding their mobility choices.
By distributing these materials, publicizing the survey results and holding local events, communities will be able to raise public awareness, stimulate conversation about the issues, and build support for community actions that promote safe mobility for older adults.
| Contact: |
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Michael Salamone
Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change
Academy for Educational Development
Phone: (202) 884-8083
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Tips for Safe Driving
Web Resources
Special Transportation Needs and Equipment for Older Drivers
Web Resources
American Public Transportation Association
www.APTA.com
The Resource Guide for Seniors, found in the site's research and statistics/resource guide section, identifies sources of information on the special transportation needs of older adults, and shows how public-transit systems are meeting the challenge of a graying America.
Community Transportation Association
www.ctaa.org/ntrc/is_senior.asp
CTAA is partnering with the Beverly Foundation to showcase public-transportation innovations that meet the special needs of older adults.
MIT Age Lab
Coughlin_500.4.pdf
The site posts a newsletter that explores the various adaptive equipment options.
United States Administration on Aging
www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/pages/agepages/drivers.html
This site links to a fact sheet on age-related changes and how they affect driving, tips on self-assessment and information on alternatives to driving.
Books, Pamphlets and Programs
AAA
The series "Straight Talk for Mature Drivers" includes:
- A Flexible Fitness Training Package for Improving Older Driver Performance
- Good Vision…Vital to Good Driving
- RX for Safe Driving
- Meeting the Challenge
Contact: Local AAA organizations
AARP
Community Transportation Resource Worksheet
This chart helps you make a list and keep track of what transportation options may be available in your community.
Order number D16686
Staying in Charge
This pamphlet offers 25 useful tips to help older people remain independent in their homes and communities.
Order number D15937
| Contact: |
|
AARP Fulfillment
EE 01251
601 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20049
|
Supplemental Transportation Programs (STPs)
Communities throughout the country are filling transportation gaps by organizing community-based supplemental transportation programs for seniors (STPs). STPs provide many services that public transit and paratransportation cannot provide, since many older adults who can no longer drive cannot access traditional transportation options.
Several examples of the specialized services many STPs provide include "door-through-door" service, the option of escorts, and travel across community boundaries.
The Beverly Foundation in Pasadena, California, has surveyed many communities to identify how STPs are organized, what they do, who they serve, and how they actually provide transportation.
Community Resources on Driving Evaluation and Retraining
Web Resources
Administration on Aging
www.aoa.dhhs.gov
The website and phone access inform readers about aging-service programs and area agency on aging locations throughout the United States.
Phone: (800) 677-1116
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
www.aamva.org
The website assists in finding a DMV office in another state or province.
American Occupational Therapy Association
www.aota.org/featured/area6/links/link17.asp
The association directory provides a list of occupational therapists by specialty. Search either under "driving" or "geriatrics." Occupational therapists can provide a functional assessment and provide recommendations for improved mobility.
Association for Driving Rehabilitation Specialists
www.driver-ed.org
The association provides a directory of certified driving-rehabilitation specialists who can assess and provide refresher courses for older drivers.
Phone: (800) 290-2344
Driving Schools of the Americas
http://thedsaa.org/index.html
This site provides locations of member driving schools throughout the United States and Canada.
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