1. Do Colorado OT Practitioners Address Driving and Community Mobility?
Terri Cassidy, OTD, OTR/L, CDRS, Penrose St. Francis Health Services
Anne Dickerson, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, East Carolina University
Purpose
Results
Discussion and Conclusion
As the population ages, there is a need for medical professionals to discuss driving, assess individual factors related to risk of crash, and explore community mobility alternatives with clients (American Geriatrics Society & Pomidor, 2016). Occupational therapy practitioners are an ideal match for this need because of the profession’s scope of practice, skill set, and focus on community engagement. While there is research regarding the number of practitioners who specialize in Driver Rehabilitation (Betz et al., 2014), there has not been a study specifically looking at practices and perceptions of generalist practitioners around driving and community mobility. The results of this study can inform practitioners as well as stakeholders to support capacity building of occupational therapy practitioners to address driving and community mobility.
Figure 3. Do You Address Driving and Community Mobility?
DISCUSSION
Only 17% of survey respondents are addressing driving on a regular basis and only 30% are addressing community mobility frequently with clients. It is clear that these numbers need to improve if occupational therapy as a profession is going to rise to the challenges of planning for older driver safety and engagement of older adults in our communities.
Given the importance of mobility to the health of our clients as well as the increasing need for the medical community to address issues of aging road users (American Geriatrics Society & Pomidor, 2016), the authors support continued professional development for occupational therapy practitioners
in the instrumental activities of daily living of driving
and community mobility.
Total sample
(n=230)
I do address D&CM
62% (n=142)
I address Community Mobility
Frequently 30% (n=68)
I address Driving Frequently 17% (n=38)
I do not address
38% (n=88)
Domain
Practice
Community
Methods
ACTION PLAN
Capacity Building for Colorado OT practitioners through a Fitness to Drive Community of Practice (Wenger, 2000).
Figure 1. Online Survey Distribution
Survey link distributed to professional contacts in Colorado
Asked contacts to send to their contacts
Completed surveys received via website
Sample questions from survey
Figure 5. Community of Practice
Conceptual Model
CONCLUSION
The results support the creation of a Fitness to Drive Community of Practice in Colorado to address the lack of confidence, knowledge, and competence among occupational therapy practitioners through peer education and professional development opportunities.
Are you aware of Colorado’s DMV requirements regarding self report of medical conditions and medical clearance to drive procedures?
In general, how frequently do you address community mobility for your clients?
What is the primary reason(s) for not addressing driving with your clients?
Figure 4. Response graph regarding Colorado DMV
References
Respondents
“As an occupational therapy practitioner, I feel very comfortable screening or assessing fitness to drive with my usual clients/patient groups”
Only 19%
agreed!
American Geriatrics Society & A. Pomidor, Ed. (2016, January). Clinician’s guide to assessing and counseling older drivers, 3rd edition. (Report No. DOT HS ). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 Betz, M.E., Dickerson, A., Coolman, T., Schold Davis, E., Jones, J., & Schwartz, R. (2014). Driving Rehabilitation Programs for Older Drivers in the United States. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 28,
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7
(2), /
230 completed surveys from Colorado practitioners
Occupational Therapist 78%
Occupational Therapy Assistant 21%
7 individuals who specialize in driving (CDRS/DRS)
Perceived barriers to addressing driving with clients:
I do not have the confidence, knowledge or competence to address driving
Clients are too impaired in our practice setting to consider driving
Driving is not within my scope of practice at this occupational therapy setting
Contact Information
Acknowledgement: The Colorado Department of Transportation has given financial support for this project.