Staying Healthy for Driving Fitness.

Why Do We Drive?  Independence  Freedom  Convenience  Connection and contribution to the community, friends, family  Respect  Pride of owning a vehicle

Changes in the Roads  How are today’s cars different ?

Changes in the Roads  What about the roads and driving today?  How has driving changed?

Changes in Us  What changes have you noticed?

What Changes Can Affect Safe Driving for Older Adults?  Vision  Strength, flexibility and reflexes  Health conditions like arthritis  Memory

Changes That Affect Safe Driving Vision  Vision provides 90 percent of our sensory cues for driving  Good vision is more than how far or close we can see

Vision

Adaptation to Changes  Adjust mirrors properly before driving  Check rearview mirror every 10 to 20 seconds  Turn your head and look before changing lanes or merging with traffic

Strength, Flexibility and Reflexes Aging may bring diminished  Muscle strength to legs, arms and handgrip—all important for vehicle control  Flexibility to look over the shoulder for checking traffic  Reaction time to respond to traffic or road hazards

Physical Activity Develop your weekly routine that includes  Strengthening  Stretching  Endurance  Balance development

Medications Older adults may Be more susceptible to adverse or strong reactions  Because they may take more medications (both prescribed by a doctor and available in drug stores) which increases the likelihood for interaction  Because the body may not as effectively use medications and reacts more strongly to even lower doses

Medications Before getting behind the wheel  Ask your doctor or pharmacist about possible reactions and side effects  Be aware of your reaction to medications, vitamins and supplements  Adjust your driving schedule to accommodate the reaction

Memory and Attention Driving a car requires:  Making decisions quickly which requires mental alertness  Switching attention quickly to many situations happening on the road  Dividing attention to perform many tasks such as steering, shifting gears checking mirrors and looking ahead  Memorizing information such as destination

Staying Mentally Fit Practice  Flexible thinking  Exercising you senses  Communicating your opinion, thoughts about current events, stories  Using numbers  Developing strategies through games, civic groups or community projects

Strategies for the Road  Organize each trip  Eliminate distractions  Reduce stress  Dress for Driving

Sleep and Rest  Improve concentration on the road by getting enough sleep and rest  Practice habits of sleep health  Avoid naps  Develop a regular time to go to bed  Do some physical activity each day  Eat a light meal in the evening  Avoid drinking tea, coffee, or cocoa six hours before bedtime

Sleep and Rest

Alcohol Use  For older adults, alcohol is processed more slowly than in younger adults and stays in the body longer  Use of any amount of alcohol can intensify actions of many medications  Possible result: drowsiness, disorientation

Tune-Ups for the Body

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