Enhancing Driving and Community Mobility Within Occupational Therapy Education

Current U.S. accreditation standards for OT programs require that entry-level practitioners “provide training in techniques to enhance community mobility, including public transportation, community access, and issues... [ view full abstract ]

Current U.S. accreditation standards for OT programs require that entry-level practitioners “provide training in techniques to enhance community mobility, including public transportation, community access, and issues related to driver rehabilitation.” (AOTA, 2012). Driving/community mobility is an instrumental activity of daily living (AOTA, 2014) that involves many client factors, including specific mental functions (attention, memory, perception, sequencing), sensory functions (vision, hearing, touch, vestibular, proprioception), movement and muscle function.
This workshop will describe an innovative approach to learning using a driving simulator throughout an entry-level master’s degree OT curriculum. In first semester students learn foundational concepts related to OT and complete an activity analysis of driving to understand how essential driving/community mobility are for independence and engagement in everyday life activities (AOTA, 2010). In second semester, the components of driving are introduced (visual, motor, cognitive) and students are introduced to driving/community mobility in youth with special needs – ADHD and ASD. During third semester, students learn how a variety of physical diagnoses/conditions in adults may impact driving ability; they also learn about assistive technology and how to evaluate client factors and performance skills. In fourth semester, the focus is on the older adult and how the aging process affects bodily and mental functions and driving performance. Specific conditions like Alzheimer’s disease are reviewed and decisions around driving cessation. The use of a driving simulator to predict driving performance on-the-road is introduced via naturalistic drives (Classen & Brooks, 2014). Students are trained in CarFit and participate in an older driver safety community event.