A systematic review of effective interventions and strategies to support the transition of older adults from driving to driving retirement/cessation

Background and Objectives. In most western countries, older adults depend on private cars for transportation and do not proactively plan for driving cessation. The objective of this review was to examine current research studies outlining effective interventions and strategies to assist older adults during their transition from driver to driving retirement or cessation.

Research Design and Methods. A search was completed across nine data bases using key words and MeSH terms for drivers, cessation of driving, and older adult drivers. Eligibility screening of 9,807 titles and abstracts, followed by a detailed screening of 206 papers was completed using the Covidence platform. Twelve papers were selected for full text screen and data extraction, comprising three papers with evidence-based intervention programs and nine papers with evidenced-informed strategies.

Results. Three papers met the research criteria of a controlled study for programs that support and facilitate driving cessation for older adults. Nine additional studies were exploratory or descriptive, which outlined strategies that could support older drivers, their families, and/or healthcare professionals during this transition. Driving retirement programs/toolkits are also presented.

Discussion and Implications. The driver retirement programs had promising results, but there were methodological weaknesses within the studies. Strategies extracted contributed to six themes: Reluctance and avoidance of the topic, multiple stakeholder involvement is important, taking proactive approach is critical, re-focus the process away from assessment to proactive planning, collaborative approach to enable “ownership” of the decision is needed, and engage in planning alternative transportation should be the end result. Meeting the transportation needs of older adults will be essential to support aging in place, out-of-home mobility and participation, particularly in developed countries where there is such a high dependency on private motor vehicles.