EDUCATING NOVICE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DRIVER ASSESSORS TO MAKE FITNESS-TO-DRIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OLDER AND/OR DISABLED CLIENTS

Background: Occupational therapists need to know how to make optimal recommendations concerning fitness-to-drive of older and/or disabled drivers to ensure the safely of all road users. Method: Using Social Judgment Theory... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Occupational therapists need to know how to make optimal recommendations concerning fitness-to-drive of older and/or disabled drivers to ensure the safely of all road users.
Method:
Using Social Judgment Theory methodology (Cooksey 1988), a decision-training aid was developed based on the statistical model derived from experienced Occupational Therapy Driver Assessors’ fitness-to-drive recommendations. Effectiveness of the training materials was tested through a randomised controlled trial, where 166 pre-registration occupational therapy students from the UK and Australia made fitness-to-drive recommendations on a set of 86 case scenarios. Their decisions were examined statistically across group and time point using ANOVA. Research ethics approval was granted by both university committees in the UK (13/10/STF/02) and Australia (HEC12-105).
Results:
The decision training aid was found to be effective: trained novices were more able to detect ‘not fit-to-drive’ cases, whereas the novices who did not receive training did not change their decision-making strategy. Effect size calculated at the post-training stage demonstrated a moderate effect (d=.69, r=.32). Following the training, fitness-to-drive recommendations made by novices became more like the experts’ decisions.
Conclusion:
The training aid can support occupational therapists by improving their capacity for making fitness-to-drive recommendations.
Application to Practice:
Increased workforce capacity in skilled fitness-to-drive recommendations will lead to a reduction in the number of unsafe drivers and maintain quality of life for those drivers who are fit-to-drive.


References
Cooksey R.W. (1996). Judgement analysis: theory, methods and applications. London, Academic Press.


Financial support by the UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.