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Aging and Driving
Anstey, K.J. & Wood, J. (2011). Chronological age and age-related cognitive deficits are associated with an increase in multiple types of driving errors in late life. Neuropsychology 25(5): 613-621.
In "Chronological age and age-related cognitive deficits…" Anstey & Wood (2011) outline the purpose of the research as being to foster greater understanding of the factors involved in driving skills that diminish with age. In particular, the authors are concerned with the cognitive factors that impact driving ability. The authors warn against blanket generalizations about seniors, many of whom retain their ability to drive safely well into old age. The gap in research the authors are filling is related to the specific cognitive changes that take place as a matter of the aging process, and how those changes impact seniors who regularly drive. According to the authors, their research has direct real-world application for the ergonomics of driving experiences in terms of improved road signs and continuing driver education for seniors.
A review of literature reveals that from a neurophysiological standpoint, aging impacts frontal lobe processes and functions more than other brain regions and functions. Decision making and response time are two specific areas that diminish naturally with age. In previous research measuring the driving errors that seniors make, the authors discovered that "the highest rates of errors involved failure to...
614). The current research question focuses on common and everyday driving situations. Performance on real-world driving tests is to be compared with performance on laboratory cognitive tests. The researchers hypothesize that laboratory measures of "selective attention, set shifting, and attention" would be associated with "positioning of the vehicle, selecting gaps in traffic, and appropriate planning and preparation in a particular driving situation or maneuver" in the driving test; and that "visual selective attention" would be associated with blind spot checking behaviors (p. 614).
The researchers selected an initial population of 449 Australian persons 70 years and older. They selected from this group 266 participants who claimed that they drive once per week or more, and who met other criteria, to participate in the On Road Driving Test condition. The researchers tested for dementia to rule it out, and administered two hours work of cognitive tests plus a preliminary driving assessment of 50 minutes in length.
Among the cognitive tests used in the study, the Trail Making Tests, Digit-Symbol Matching, Simple Reaction Time, Choice Reaction Time Color, and a Visual Search test were used. During the driving test, an occupational therapist sat in the back seat to monitor and record specific driving…
S." (Liu, 2008) the actual solution to the challenges facing the health care system in the United States is one that makes a requirement of three components: implementing tort reforms; mandating the use of best practices; and driving systemic process improvement. (Liu, 2008) This report states that the threat of litigation gets in the way of health care delivery in that is "causes providers to hide problems and engage in unnecessary procedures
Epidemiology of Elderly Driving Safety Annotated Bibliography Ball, K., Edwards, JD, Ross, LA, and McGwin, G. (2010) Cognitive Training Decreases Motor Vehicle Collision Involvement of Older Drivers. The American Geriatrics Society. Journal Compilation. 58:2107-2113. The work of Ball, Edwards, Ross and McGwin (2010) reports a randomized, controlled, multisite, single-blind clinical trial in a community of seniors in four cities in the United States including Birmingham, Alabama; Baltimore, Maryland, Indianapolis, Indiana, and State College,
Rockstein and Sussman (1979) defined senescence as the period of life where the human body weakens and declines in function rather than grows, a period which is of course associated with physical aging. There is much individual and cultural variation in this process, this is a gradual process, and it occurs across all cultures and in all individuals. Cultural perceptions of aging were also noted by Rockstein and Sussman to
Windy McNernev and Robert West (2007), both with the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, India, explain that returning the DVD while running errands depicts an illustration of effective prospective memory. Substantial documentation signifies that in various instances, the accessibility of one's effective memory ability or attentional resources can be vital for the comprehension of deferred intentions. Richard L. Marsh, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, Jason L. Hicks, Louisiana State
For example, Massachusetts and California have made recent improvements by upgrading care quality and professionalizing care; by contrast, despite Florida's large population of seniors and the beginning of a coalition of patients, families, and workers on behalf of better care, the state administration remains inflexible in their funding approach (Fitzgerald 30). Nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities are unique among low-wage labor markets in that government, in effect, sets wages
A. Harvard Women's Health Watch (2010) Preserving and improving memory as we age. Feb 1: NA B. This is an article that is written directly to consumers who are over the age of 50 and are starting to notice changes in the ability to remember things. It addresses the fact that this wrongly causes fear in some people that they are prone toward Alzheimer's disease. Studies have shown that cognitive decline