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Researcher to study elderly drivers |
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Call For Volunteers:
Eastern Virginia Medical School is looking for volunteers for a study whose goal is to develop an objective test to evaluate driver safety in elderly patients with dementia. To participate, you must be over 65 and have a driver’s license.
The study, funded by the national Alzheimer’s Association, will involve four short sessions, each involving a brief cognitive exam and a session in a driving simulator.
The Alzheimer’s Association will cover the costs of all tests, which usually run $300 each. Participants will also be paid a small stipend for their time.
For more information, call
446-7340.
December 13, 2005
NORFOLK—For anyone with elderly parents or relatives, one of the most traumatic moments may come when you make the decision to take away the car keys.
“In America today, the car is the only means of transportation,” said Barbara Freund, Ph.D., an associate professor and gerontologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School's Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology. “Mobility means independence.”
Now, Freund has landed a $250,000 grant from the national Alzheimer’s Association to determine if a simple test can determine if elderly drivers with dementia can continue to drive safely with certain restrictions.
“I hope to be able to demonstrate that just because you’ve been diagnosed with a disease doesn’t mean you lack the skills to drive safely,” Freund said.
Freund hopes to recruit 100 volunteers to take a test, followed by a spin in a driving simulator. After that baseline evaluation, participants will return again six, 12 and 18 months later. The Alzheimer’s Association will cover the costs of each of Freund’s evaluations, which usually run $300 each. Participants will also receive a small stipend for their time.
Freund is a nationally recognized expert in evaluating the safety of drivers with cognitive impairment. Freund believes that publicity about car accidents involving elderly drivers has caused an enormous overreaction.
California, for instance, automatically revokes the driver’s license of anyone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, even those with minor symptoms. That, Freund believes, causes many patients to avoid diagnosis and treatment that can help delay the onset of dementia.
“I hope to be able to demonstrate that just because you’ve been diagnosed with a disease doesn’t mean you lack the skills to drive safely.”
Barbara Freund, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Older Driver Research Program
She believes such decisions fail to take into account how traumatic it can be to lose driving privileges, especially if you know you can still drive safely.
“If somebody were to take your car, you would face immediate problems,” Freund says. “How would you get home? How would you go to see a movie? How would you visit your family? How could you meet you needs?”
Freund — whose methods have been featured on Good Morning, America — believes that she can evaluate the safety of a driver by having them draw a clock, with the hands showing a particular time.
In one case, using the clock drawing test and time in a simulator, Freund determined that an Alzheimer’s patient with severe short-term memory loss could drive as long as a navigator accompanied him.
“He drives flawlessly,” Freund said. “He drove all the way to Wisconsin for his son’s wedding without incident.”
Freund’s evaluations have become so convincing that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles issues licenses with restrictions based on her recommendations.
The Alzheimer’s Association study is designed to see if Freund’s methods are reliable enough to be used as a simple screening test nationwide.
If you, your parents, aunts, uncles or friends are over 65 and have any concerns about memory or driving, call EVMS’ Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology at 446-7340 to participate.
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For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
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Sentara to give EVMS $25 million and sign new affiliation agreement |
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November 30, 2005
NORFOLK—Sentara Healthcare has agreed to give Eastern Virginia Medical School $25 million over the next five years and to sign an affiliation agreement that establishes a new partnership between the two institutions.
As part of the new affiliation agreement, EVMS and Sentara will establish a regular schedule of senior-level management meetings to develop and monitor all joint programs. The partners will also establish joint working committees on residency, operations, and research, with representation from both institutions.
The new funding and affiliation agreement will strengthen Eastern Virginia Medical School, one of the youngest medical schools in the U.S.
“No one wants EVMS to succeed more than Sentara,” said David Bernd, chief executive officer of Sentara. “EVMS plays a vital role in community health care and ensuring that our community has enough physicians. Our new partnership will advance both our missions.”
“We are very excited about this new partnership and very grateful to Sentara for their vision,” said Harry Lester, president of Eastern Virginia Medical School. “With a stronger relationship between EVMS and Sentara, our community will have more doctors, more research, and better health care. Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth as a whole will benefit tremendously from Sentara’s commitment to EVMS.”
Sentara will give EVMS $5 million each year for the next five years, including $3 million to support the school’s residency programs and $2 million to assist the medical school in recruiting additional faculty.
EVMS and Sentara have already begun to implement the new partnership. The senior management of the two institutions, including Bernd, Lester, Rod Hochman, M.D., executive vice president of Sentara, and Gerald J. Pepe, Ph.D., dean and provost of EVMS, have scheduled meetings every 60 days to oversee the development of the new partnership.
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For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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EVMS flu researchers study vaccine to help elderly |
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November 30, 2005
NORFOLK—Flu researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School are recruiting volunteers to take part in a new investigational research trial to study the effectiveness of current influenza virus vaccines. The National Institutes of Health-sponsored study will determine why the current influenza vaccine works well in some people, but not in others, especially the elderly.
Richard Drake, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and molecular cell biology; Yuping Deng, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine; and Stefan Gravenstein, M.D., professor of internal medicine and director of EVMS’ Glennan Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics, are directing this study. The results will be used to develop improved flu vaccines that are more effective in elderly people.
For more information about participating in this research study, contact the Glennan Center at 446-7340.
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For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Coats for Kids enters its 18th year |
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November 28, 2005
NORFOLK—The Coats for Kids drive is underway to help kids stay warm this winter. Each year EVMS, WAVY-TV 10 and local businesses collect new or gently used coats for the drive.
Area residents may drop coats in containers located in EVMS and WAVY-TV buildings; all locations of Albano Cleaners, Boulevard Cleaners, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service offices, Langley Federal Credit Union, Swan Cleaners; and in Farm Fresh stores until Monday, January 2.
Albano, Boulevard and Swan cleaners will clean the coats for free before they are distributed to the children.
EVMS students and members of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity will volunteer to distribute the coats on a first-come first-served basis on Jan. 7 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in EVMS’ Lewis Hall, Park Place United Methodist Church and Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Norfolk; St. James Episcopal Church and Shakkara Temple #2 in Portsmouth; Hiram Grand Lodge and YWCA in Newport News; Y.H. Thomas Community Center in Hampton and T.E. Cooke-Overton Funeral Home in Suffolk.
Coats for Kids, now in its 18th year, is a project of students from Eastern Virginia Medical School and area businesses. The program relies on donations of new and gently used coats from residents of Hampton Roads. For more information, please call 446-6070.
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For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th International Conference on AIDS INDIA in Chennai, India.