Older Driver Safety Awareness Week aims to promote the importance of mobility and transportation to ensure older adults remain active in the community. Whether it is shopping, working, or volunteering, we want older adults to do the things they love and need to do with the confidence that transportation will not be the barrier to strand them at home. We will partner with stakeholders throughout the week to bring attention to a different aspect of older driver safety.

Mark your calendars for #ODSAW

Description: The American Occupational Therapy Association's Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is held annually on the first week of December to raise awareness of the many resources available to older drivers and their families to promote safety behind the wheel. We encourage you to inspire older adults to build a network of services by sharing their experiences during Older Driver Safety Awareness Week on CommunOT.

AOTA's Older Driver Safety Week

Older driver safety happens every day

When practitioners consider the instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) of driving, most often the hesitancy is around "what can I say" even when the importance to that client is clearly recognized. The purpose behind occupational therapy's involvement in Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is to highlight the range of possibilities. Each day is a new opportunity to educate, empower, and enable older drivers and their families to plan for their safe transportation with the priority to stay engaged in the community. Together, we can keep our clients safe and on the road for a long as safely possible.

Monday - Driving changes that continue safety & independence

Aging is an inevitable and natural process in which we all go through. As a result, the ability to drive safely can be affected by changes in our physical, emotional, and cognitive health. Although changes are a part of normal aging, they occur individually and at different rates and times. Just as one plans for retirement, it's important to plan for changes in transportation needs.

Tuesday - Let's talk about driving

AOTA's Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is intentionally held each year in December because this is the time of year when families often come together for the holidays. One of the first steps in addressing older driver safety with a loved one is to create a safe space to discuss these changes and to create solutions that allow continued safe and independent driving.

Wednesday - What does occupational therapy have to do with driving?

An older driver may decide that it is time to get a check-up on their driving fitness. These services, described as "Driving fitness evaluations", may seem confusing. They range from self-assessments (useful educational tools to help identify potential challenges) to a professional, comprehensive driving evaluation performed by an occupational therapy driving rehabilitation specialist. Older drivers and their family members need to understand the driving service they are getting. An occupational therapist is here to support clients and their families to act on the results meaningfully.

Thursday - Interventions that empower drivers & families

The driving intervention is created based on collaboration between the client and the occupational therapist. This intervention aims to explore possible ways a client can continue to drive safely for as long as possible independently.

Friday - Finding new ways to engage in the community

When older drivers need to adjust to continue driving safely or discover that they can no longer do so, families and friends can help them with this transition. Older drivers and their support system need to know about resources for independent community mobility before driving cessation occurs. Connecting with an occupational therapist for resources can assist in the driving journey.