Sample: Special-Event Driving Fair

Simply talking about driving wellness to older adults may be limited in terms of how much they actually learn. Consider how adults learn best - by doing, by making the abstract concrete, by engaging in a "hands-on" experience. A driving fair with demonstrations and displays provides such an experience.

Safe-Driving Fair

Objectives

• To engage older adults in active learning about safe driving, driving fitness and options for driving retirement
• To incorporate the community in better understanding the capabilities of older drivers
• To include the community in assisting older drivers to remain safely on the road and in providing alternatives to driving

Displays

Enlist community members to develop display booths. These can include the following:

Organization	Message	Booth
Area Agencies on Aging	Health-Promotion Services Keep Older Adults Active	Materials on services, information and assistance helplines, and special transportation task forces
Cooperative Extension	Access to Food, Food Security (adequate nutritional foods available on hand) and Safety for Health	Materials on safety
Farmer's Markets, Grocery Stores, Cooking Schools	Eat Right to Stay Driving Fit Delivery Services When You Need Them	Foods for vision, mental alertness, bone strength and heart health
Older Adult Food Programs (Meals on Wheels, Nutrition Sites, Cafes)	Good Food for Good Driving Transportation Services When You Need It Drivers Wanted to Assist Others: What It Takes	Food displays, meal site/cafe displays, volunteer recruitment information Food programs tailored to ethnic and cultural communities
Health Departments	Prevention Counts for Driving Wellness: Your Foods, Health Checks and Immunizations	Health department services, clinic listings, food campaign materials
Senior Centers, Recreation Departments, YMCAs	Physical Activity to Keep the Keys Staying Social: Staying Fit	Materials on health-promotion activities
Occupational Therapists, Rehabilitation Hospitals	Adaptive Equipment for Driving Safety Refreshing Your Driving Skills to Keep the Keys	Information on adaptive equipment and driving rehabilitation
Department of Motor Vehicles	Driver's License Options: Keeping You on the Road	Materials and staff available to talk about testing, medical board and efforts to keep people safe
Pharmacists	Know Your Medications for a Safe Trip	Medication posters or pamphlets
Transportation Services	Choose When to Drive and When to Let Us Drive	Information about alternative transportation options - vans, buses, taxis, shuttles
Peer Counselors/Mental-Health Centers	Talking Driving Over with Others Friends Talk to Friends About Safe Driving	Materials and staff available to talk about mental wellness
Automobile Dealers	Your Car Can Be Safer	Cars that display new safety options and features

Demonstrations

Make your informative materials live. Enlist community groups to run demonstrations or provide entertaining talks. Demonstrations drive home the information you wish to convey. Seeing plus doing reinforces your messages. Consider including the following:

Organization	Topic	Demonstration
Farmer's Markets, Grocery Stores, Cooperative Extension	Food	Low-cost food options How to pick the freshest foods Buying for one...or two
Senior Centers, Recreation Departments, YMCAs	Physical Activity	Exercises for driving wellness, tai chi, yoga, dance
Occupational Therapists, Rehabilitation Hospitals	Adaptive Equipment Adjusting Your Vehicle	Adaptive equipment Use of mirrors and adjusting them Fitting yourself to your car
Department of Motor Vehicles/ Law Enforcement	Safety	Safety options in a car Driving an RV What to do in a collision
Pharmacists	Medications	Medication consultations
Automobile Association, AARP	Driving Training	Driving tips from their classes
Automobile Dealers	Safety Features	New car-safety features

Partners

Health promotion takes advanced planning and adequate resources. Partnerships developed well in advance of the event are more likely to help generate the resources needed to present the event. Not all resources are financial. Consider the materials or services that you would purchase and seek out partners who could provide those services for free.

The following are a few suggestions:

Need or Service	Possible Partner
Location/Tent	Automobile dealership
Promotion	Automobile dealership, local newspaper, free classifieds or community calendars
Adaptive equipment/ Occupational-therapy staffing	Hospitals, rehabilitation centers
Giveaways, prizes	Pharmacies, auto dealerships, hospitals, volunteer organizations, grocery stores, automobile associations, U.S. Department of Transportation
Transportation to the fair	Transportation services, houses of worship, taxi companies
Volunteers	Senior centers, volunteer organizations, AARP, churches, service clubs