AOTA Partners with National Organizations for Older Driver Safety Awareness Week

AARP, NHTSA, ChORUS, and Others Provide Strategies on Safe Mobility

North Bethesda, MD - Aging impacts everyone differently. When it comes to driving, it is important to understand the impact age-related changes may have on one’s safe driving ability. The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) plays an active role in promoting awareness, tips, and solutions for families, occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs), and other health professionals to address older driver safety year-round.

During the first week of December (4-8,) together with other national partners with expertise in healthy aging, AOTA promotes Older Driver Safety Awareness Week (ODSAW). The purpose is to strengthen occupational therapy’s role and confident participation in this important discussion.

Through partnership with AAA, AARP, NHTSA, state departments of transportation, NMEDA, The Hartford, and ChORUS, each day is a new opportunity to educate, empower, and guide older drivers and their families. This includes planning for their safe transportation and embracing the value of the occupation of driving and community mobility as essential to staying engaged in the community. This year’s theme is Understand, Be Proactive, Plan and all involved organizations and OTPs will use #ODSAW23.

“Much of the challenge with the subject of older driver safety is to start the conversation on safe mobility,” said Elin Schold Davis, OTR/L, CDRS, FAOTA Practice Manager, Workforce Capacity and Engagement at the American Occupational Therapy Association “Beginning with awareness and understanding of the impact aging has on driving, we strive to encourage older drivers to be proactive about being a safe driver. And OTPs can offer strategies to support older drivers as they plan for safe mobility even beyond the driver’s seat.”

Empowering Older Drivers

ODSAW is important because too many myths persist, beliefs that talking about older driver is ageist or punitive or hopeless. So much work has been done and the research supports the value of awareness and planning as step one. Getting where one wants and needs to be is critical to “aging in place/in community”. Transportation for the role of driver or passenger must support an individual’s participation in valued activities be they social, spiritual, or spontaneous access to community.

AOTA partners with other organizations during ODSAW because this is one topic that no one profession or service can fully provide. From the identification of risk to the transit providers who offer short- or long-term options, to the vehicle modifiers that assemble adapted vehicles that the occupational therapy driving rehabilitation specialists need in their role to teach an alternative approach to driving a car.

Schold Davis says, “OSDAW builds awareness of the wide range of options, and through this it offers hope that the transportation needed is possible. Building awareness supports action and advocacy to keep building more.”

AOTA partner agency AAA’s Rhonda Shah, Manager of Traffic Safety Advocacy & Community Impact said, “Deciding whether an older adult can drive safely is hard for many families to face. AAA urges families to use Older Driver Safety Awareness Week as an opportunity to have candid conversations with their loved ones. It’s a good time to address both real and perceived challenges about age-related changes and driving safety.”

NHTSA encourages older adults, family members, and caregivers to be proactive about discussing safe mobility and building a transportation plan, as do organizations like AARP.

Josh Dunning, VP and National Director, AARP says "AARP Driver Safety is driven by a mission of keeping drivers safe behind the wheel, extending their safe driving years and expanding mobility options for getting around their community. We appreciate Older Driver Safety Awareness Week because it’s an opportunity to share with a broader audience about topics core to that mission. We also enjoy the natural collaborations it brings about with many renowned organizations, like AOTA, to promote and spread each group’s valuable resources even further.

Starting the Conversation About Safe Mobility

Some talking points from NHTSA and AOTA can help start those conversations on safe mobility:

• Motor vehicle crashes are more harmful for older adults than their younger counterparts because older adults are more likely to have conditions of frailty and fragility, increasing risk for serious injury and extended recovery time.
• Decisions about your ability to drive should never be based on age alone. However, changes in vision, physical fitness, and reflexes may be a cause for safety concerns. By accurately assessing age-related changes, you can adjust your driving habits to remain safe on the road or choose other kinds of transportation.
• One way to stay safe while driving is by making sure you understand how medical conditions can impact your ability to drive safely.
• Begin talking about safe driving in general long before you notice difficulties. Open the discussion whenever you encounter tricky intersections or driving scenarios in your travels. Ultimately, it is a person’s driving performance, not age, that should determine fitness to drive.
• Plan trips at times of day when traffic is light and plan your route to reduce conflict with other traffic.
• Driving at night may become challenging as one ages. During the winter months the sun goes down early. So, it will get dark sooner. Encourage your loved ones to plan their schedule early to be home before the sun goes down. Plan midday lunches instead of evening dinners or offer to be the driver for evening concerts.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Your life is made up of occupations—meaningful everyday activities. These occupations can include many roles, such as being a parent, a friend, a spouse, a tennis player, an artist, a cook, or a musician. We generally don’t think about our daily occupations until we have trouble doing them. Everyone has occupations—from the toddler whose occupations are play and learning to develop important skills, to the older adult whose occupations are engaging with family and friends and managing his or her home.

If you are recovering from an accident or injury, your valued occupations may be disrupted. Occupational therapy incorporates your valued occupations into the rehabilitation process. Occupational therapy evaluation and treatment supports engagement in everyday life activities that affect one’s physical and mental health and well-being.

Throughout the year, AOTA works with partner organizations and stakeholders that offer valuable driving and community mobility information as a part of their mission to support older drivers. Information about their initiatives that focus on community mobility, aging expertise and advice, and safe driving tools can be found here.

To interview an AOTA Older Driver Safety Awareness expert, contact Jennifer Rignani, AOTA media relations at praota@aota.org or 412-977-5795.

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About AOTA

Founded in 1917, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) represents the professional interests and concerns of more than 213,000 occupational therapists, assistants, and students nationwide. The Association educates the public and advances the profession of occupational therapy by providing resources, setting professional and educational standards, and serving as an advocate to improve health care. Based in Bethesda, Md., AOTA’s major programs and activities are directed toward promoting the professional development of its members and assuring consumer access to quality services so patients can maximize their individual potential. For more information, go to www.aota.org.