A selection of our current work includes: Disaster Planning for Caregivers Understanding Driver Evaluation and Rehabilitation Practices The Driving Decision Older Drivers and New In-vehicle Technologies Health Concerns and The Older Driver Politics and Policy of Older Drivers Licensing and Retests Alternatives to The Car

For most, driving is the key to independence and personal identity. By integrating human factors, cognitive psychology, gerontology, medicine, engineering and planning, the AgeLab conducts research that examines the many factors relating to older drivers. We study and experiment with new technologies that help enhance safety behind the wheel. Other work examines the risks of health and medicine to the driving task. A major pillar of the AgeLab's research is understanding how older adults make decisions to drive and/or cease driving, including how they perceive their own driving ability and the role of families in the driving decision.

DISASTER PLANNING FOR CAREGIVERS

With a trend of increasing violent weather across the U.S. and rapid acceleration of cases of Alzheimer’s Disease, it is essential that caregivers of those with memory disorders be prepared with a disaster plan.

The AgeLab has partnered with The Hartford to create the booklet “The Calm Before the Storm: Family Conversations about Disaster Planning, Caregiving, Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia” to help caregivers in the event of a natural disaster. For caregivers of those with memory disorders, preparation is vital to being able to successfully cope with an unexpected disaster. “The Calm Before the Storm” booklet contains worksheets, checklists and helpful resources to help meet this challenge.

To view the press release, click here.

To view a PDF file of the booklet or to order copies of the booklet free of charge, click here.

UNDERSTANDING DRIVER EVALUATION AND REHABILITATION PRACTICES

The MIT AgeLab is teaming up with the New England University Transportation Center, AOTA and The Hartford to learn more about people’s experiences with driver assessments and driving rehabilitation.

We would like to conduct interviews with drivers ages 50 and older who have taken part in a driving evaluation to talk about their experiences. We would also like to talk with people who provide care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease who has had a driving evaluation. If you are someone who has completed a driving assessment with an occupational therapist (OT), or a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease who has done such an assessment, click here to see if you are eligible to participate in the study.

We would also like to talk with OTs who performs driving evaluations and rehabilitation with older clients. We are planning to conduct focus groups with OTs at the AOTA national convention in Houston, Texas, in April 2009. If you are an OT who does driving evaluations and plans to be in Houston, please click here to learn more about the study

If you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr. Lisa D'Ambrosio at dambrosi@mit.edu or 1-866-326-0752.

In partnership with The Hartford, the AgeLab is applying approaches from gerontology, psychology and social work to better understand how older drivers choose to limit their driving, including the role of experience, technology, and the availability of options.

AgeLab seeks to create practical tools for older adults and their families. Click here to see The Hartford/MIT Guide to Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia and Driving.

To read the PDF click here.

 



 

 

 

 

Click here to learn some tips to help you have effective conversations with your older family members from "We Need to Talk: Family conversations with older drivers", produced with The Hartford. To read the full study, "Who drives older drivers decisions" done by AgeLab researchers, click here.

To read the PDF click here.

In collaboration with the global auto industry, including Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Fiat, researchers from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Harvard Medical School, Ben Gurion University in Israel, and MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the AgeLab is conducting extensive research on the design integration of intelligent transportation systems and their promise to promote lifelong safe driving. Current work includes the issue of cognitive workload and the adaptation to new technologies to the driving task of the 50+ year old operator.

HEALTH CONCERNS AND THE OLDER DRIVER

Working with doctors and psychiatrists from Harvard Medical School and gerontologists from The Hartford, we are examining the role of self-reported health on driving behavior. Based on research conducted in our driving simulator, Miss Daisy, and on a nationally representative survey of older drivers, we’ve found a link between self-reported health and driving habits.

POLITICS AND POLICY OF OLDER DRIVERS LICENSING AND RETESTS

AgeLab is committed to informing public policy and the continuing older driver licensing debate. Working in collaboration with the US Department of Transportation's University Transportation Center and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the AgeLab works with political scientists, gerontologists, doctors, and researchers to provide analyses and studies regarding older driver licensing laws in the US and around the world.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE CAR

AgeLab has teamed with researchers from MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning to examine the availability, affordability and acceptability of alternatives to driving. Work includes real and perceived barriers to public transport, land use and zoning and costs to caregivers who provide rides to older friends and families. This work is sponsored by the US Department of Transportation University Transportation Center Program.