Screening At-Risk Older Drivers: A Cross-Program Analysis of Canadian Occupational Therapy Curricula

ABSTRACT

Aims: As individuals grow older they are more likely to experience health-related changes that affect driving. Concerns for both older drivers and public safety necessitate rigorous and valid occupational therapy screening processes for evaluating fitness to drive. This paper focuses on the current level of clinical training for addressing the issue of medical fitness to drive in Canada. Methods: A survey was sent to all 14 university occupational therapy programs to determine the level of training offered for screening medically at-risk older drivers. Data were analyzed using NVivo 8 and several themes emerged. Results: Types of training and learning resources to address this issue varies considerably across programs. Faculty reported graduating students have sufficient competency to perform brief office-based screening but not a comprehensive evaluation. Conclusions: Standardization of curriculum across occupational therapy programs on this topic is needed as well as development of training opportunities for advanced levels of competency.

KEYWORDS. :

• clinical occupational therapy training
• evaluating fitness to drive
• building capacity