Supporting Safety in the Older Adult Driver: A Public Health Nursing Opportunity.
The effective operation of a motor vehicle encompasses a wide range of cognitive processes that can decline due to age-related changes in neuroanatomical structures and cognitive functionality. The increasing number of older adult drivers in our rapidly aging population heightens the public safety concern of unsafe driving associated with these changes. Nurses caring for older adults in public health settings are well positioned to make a difference in the management of older patients who may be at risk of endangering themselves or others on the roadways. In this article, information is provided for increasing nurses' awareness of the cognitive factors inhibiting effective driving, recognizing older adults who may be at risk for unsafe driving, and facilitating a patient/family to seek a driving evaluation.
C.E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. lwiese@fau.edu.
Lisa Kirk
0000-0002-4830-683X
LK
Wiese
College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Logan
L
Wolff
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D011637:Public Health Nursing; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety
age-related changes; driving; older adult