OT and Driving

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

The population of the United States is older than it has ever been. 

And, by 2050 the older adult population (>65 years) is projected to increase another 47% (from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050). This will transform many aspects of our society—and one change we need to prepare for is:

The safety of older drivers. 

Because by 2050 the older adult population (>65 years) will make up 25% of all drivers.

You may be aware that our youngest, newly licensed drivers are the most likely to be in a crash— but it is older drivers who are more likely to be in a fatal crash. 

In our featured article from JAMA gives a high-level overview of the complex driving needs of an older population—and tucked inside you’ll see OT’s role in helping to address these needs. 

After we review the article, we’ll welcome one of the article’s authors Ganesh M. Babulal, PhD, OTD, MSCI, MOT, OTR/L who leads the DRIVES Project at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Through this project he is working to understand how preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) impacts driving behavior.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Addressing the complex driving needs of an aging population. 

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Predicting driving cessation among cognitively normal older drivers.
• Navigational decision‐making among older drivers: An analysis of real‐world driving patterns.

OT and Driving Supplemental Materials 

Information about increase in traffic deaths

• 2024 Progress Report on National Roadway Safety Strategy (US Dept. of Transportation)
• The Rise in US Traffic Deaths– NY Times

Duty to warn regulation about unsafe drivers

• Reporting Requirements, Confidentiality, and Legal Immunity for Physicians Who Report Medically Impaired Drivers

Driving Risk/Fitness to Drive Screens

• Self Report Driver Safety Checklist 
• Fitness-to-Drive Screening Measure Online– Short-Form (21-item) Version
• Free online driving simulator

OT’s Role in Driver Safety

• Car-fit Program
• OTs Role in Driving Rehab– AOTA
• FREE GRID Generalist Resource to Integrate Driving
• OTs Role with Driving
• OT-DORA: Occupational Therapy Driver Off-Road Assessment Battery
• OT-DORA versus GRID– Podcast

Driver Cessation 

• Car Free Me- Program for Cessation 
• A Systematic Review of Effective Interventions and Strategies to Support the Transition of Older Adults From Driving to Driving Retirement/Cessation
• The 3 Rs to Support Driving Retirement (Video by Susie the Driving OT)

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify ways OTs can screen for fitness to drive.  
• You will be able to recognize the components of a comprehensive driving evaluation.

Agenda

Intro and breakdown and analysis of the journal article

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:03:11 Intro to Driving Safety and Older Drivers
• 00:03:44 Medical Impairment and Driving
• 00:05:22 Fitness to Drive and Driving Cessation
• 00:07:58 Available Safety Technologies
• 00:08:44 The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles
• 00:10:29 Intro to Ganesh M. Babulal

Discussion on practical implications for OTs

• 00:12:24 How Ganesh became interested in driving and OT
• 00:16:09 How did this paper in JAMA come to be?
• 00:19:32 What stands out about his paper to you?
• 00:23:12 What advice do you have for screening for driver safety
• 00:29:16 What considerations should have OTs have for a full evaluation?
• 00:34:45 What driving simulators are accessible to the average clinician?
• 00:46:53 Recommendations for driving cessation?
• 00:53:50 What future business models/legislation do we need?

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Driving.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.

Speakers

Ganesh M. Babulal, PhD, OTD, MSCI, MOT

Dr. Ganesh Babulal is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, and Director of two laboratories, The DRIVES Project and ARCHES. He is also a faculty member at the Institute of Public Health at Washington University and a research associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

Dr. Babulal’s research seeks to understand the relationship between cognition and mental health and its impact on instrumental activities of daily living, such as driving, in healthy older adults and those with chronic neurological diseases. Read more about Ganesh here.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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