Adaptations of Older Drivers: A Retrospective Study
Graduation Date
2011
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy
Department
Occupational Therapy
Department or Program Chair
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Thesis Advisor
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Abstract
With increasing numbers of older drivers, occupational therapists and other health professionals need to develop skills and explore strategies to facilitate safe driving in older adults. Therefore, a mixed methods non-experimental study of three CarFit events held in Marin County in 2007, 2008, and 2009 was conducted. Participants were 151 older drivers in Marin County who attended the event. Findings indicated that while few participants had difficulty with standard car safety features, more had difficulty with features that needed periodic readjusting, such as seats and mirrors. Participants felt reassured knowing that they were driving safe in their vehicles and appreciated the information given by the evaluators regarding specific car safety features. Participants also offered suggestions for how to improve future events. Because driving is an important life occupation for older adults, occupational therapists should support the development of community-based driver safety events such as CarFit.