Researcher to study
elderly drivers
|
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.
Top
For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and
Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional
Advancement
(757) 446-6070 - gardneda@evms.edu
|
