No description available.

The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) to treat driving phobia using a multiple baseline across-subjects design. The sequence of events included a pre-treatment assessment, a baseline phase, 8 weekly VRET sessions using a standardized treatment protocol, a post-treatment assessment, and 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments. A sample of seven treatment seeking adults with a primary diagnosis of specific phobia (driving) was recruited. Five completed the treatment and follow-up phases. One individual withdrew after the pre-treatment assessment, and the other, after the first treatment session. It was hypothesized that VRET would reduce driving anxiety and avoidance symptoms between pre- and post-treatment assessments using several outcome measures. Visual and statistical analysis methods were used to assess treatment outcome. Three participants showed clear improvement in driving anxiety and avoidance symptoms between pre- and post-treatment assessments. There was a marginal improvement in these symptoms for one participant. The remaining participant showed very little improvement, and some outcome measures revealed slight deterioration in some of her symptoms. There was negligible change in actual driving frequency in any participant. Some gains were lost at the 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments, but symptoms remained far below pre-treatment results. Possibilities for future research and practice implications are discussed.

ECDL produktų diegimo Lietuvos rinkoje galimybių įvertinimas. / The Research of new ECDL Products Introduction in the Lithuanian Market.

Introduction: Almost all the research on transportation use and travel patterns of older adults has been confined to community-dwelling seniors. This multi-phase project was initiated to gain a better understanding of transportation modalities (including driving) and travel patterns of seniors living in retirement complexes. The current study, Phase IV of the project, focused on residents who were still driving. Previous phases included surveys to determine driving status (Phase I) and general transportation use (Phase II), as well as an in-depth examination of residents 65+ who had recently stopped driving in the past two years (Phase III). Purposes: The primary objective of this study was to examine the actual driving practices of older drivers living in retirement communities, including associations with driver characteristics, perceptions of driving comfort and abilities, indicators of well-being, and extent of activity and group participation inside and outside the villages. This study also examined travel patterns outside the village, in addition to driving themselves. Methods: A convenience sample of 38 drivers (mean age 81.9 ?? 5.6, range 70 to 91, 42% male) from five urban retirement villages located across Southern Ontario (Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Etobicoke and Whitby), were assessed between February and July, 2013. Participant vehicles were equipped with two electronic data logging devices (one with GPS) for two weeks, during which time they also filled out trip logs (for each driving trip) and daily travel diaries (for non-driving trips). Participants also completed questionnaires (background and driving history, activities inside and outside the village) and scales to assess depression, well-being, perceptions of driving comfort and abilities and balance confidence. Interviews were conducted to examine their experiences over the two week period, as well as gather feedback on transportation at the retirement facilities. Results: Overall, the sample was highly educated, reported being in good health and not depressed. They were also considerably older and had a greater proportion of females than most community studies. Driving data were obtained for 32 participants. Participants drove an average of three days a week (range 0.5 to 6.5 days/week), and only eight (32%) drove at night. Consistent with findings on older drivers living in the community, driving trips were most often for shopping and errands (65% of total trip segments), followed by social and entertainment purposes (18%). The sample showed more restricted driving patterns when compared to prior studies with community seniors; driving substantially less at night (trips and distance). Most of the sample (73%) did not drive on days with bad weather. Driving perceptions (particularly night comfort) were significantly (p<0.05) associated to many driving indicators (days driven, trips, stops, duration and night driving indicators). As expected, the number of non-driving trips outside the village increased as the amount of driving decreased. The sample did not take many non-driving trips over the two weeks (3.7 ?? 6.6, range 0 to 29) while some took many trips due to frequent walking trips. Walking (66% of total trips) and being a passenger in a vehicle (29%) were the most common modes of non-driving trips, with public transportation only accounting for less than 1% of all total trips. Non-driving trips were most often for recreational and social reasons, followed by shopping trips. Interviews suggested the sample was starting to think about driving cessation (20/38 or 53%) since moving to the village, where prior to that only one person (2.6%) had thought about it. Conclusions: Compared to community living seniors, older drivers living in retirement complexes are driving less. Services and amenities within the communities appear to be well utilized, which may reduce the need for travel outside the villages. Although use of public transit, taxis, paratransit and the facility bus (for group outings) was minimal, walking was popular for physical activity and going to shopping areas nearby. Participants reported driving less often after moving to the village and a significantly larger proportion thought about driving cessation only after moving. It is possible that living in a retirement residence makes driving less essential and therefore residents are leaving the village less often than someone living in the community. Although the study did not have a sufficient sample to conduct comparisons between village locations, the sample represented five different locations, therefore providing a better depiction of retirement living residents. The next phase of the project will help build on current findings by increasing the sample size and allowing for additional comparisons.

No description available.

Introduction: Mobility is critical for independence, social engagement and quality of life, which for many seniors equates with driving. Driving cessation has been associated with depression, isolation and decreased social and community engagement. However, apart from a few studies in the United States, research on the impacts of driving cessation and transportation use in general has been restricted to community dwelling seniors. It is estimated that 40,000 seniors in Ontario alone currently live in retirement facilities; a number expected to increase. Purposes: The aim of the wider project is to gain a better understanding of the transportation patterns and needs of older adults living in retirement homes. The specific aims of this study, which focused on residents who recently stopped driving (in the past two years), were to examine: 1) events leading to driving cessation, impacts (including depression), and possible associations with relocation; 2) transportation use, including how frequently they left the Village; and 3) connections with family and friends, and activity engagement in and outside the Villages. Methods: A survey of residents from four retirement Villages in Southern Ontario was conducted to examine driving status and use of other modes of transportation. An in-depth study was then conducted with a sample of 20 residents (9 men and 11 women, age 86.45 ± 5.16), recruited via letters, pamphlets, booths and door-to-door. The study involved both quantitative (questionnaires, scales on depression and balance confidence, activity checklists) and qualitative methods (small group discussions). Participants were also asked to complete travel diaries over two weeks for all trips outside the Village (purpose and mode of travel). Results: The transportation survey (N=407; 56% response rate) showed that 68% of residents had stopped driving (N=273), over half within 12 months of relocation. In the in-depth study, 36.8% had stopped driving before the move (average of 3.43±1.72 months, range 1 to 6), 42.1% after the move (average of 27.38±13.51 months, range 2 to 46), and 21.2% within the same month. While the quantitative data indicates a relationship between these transitions, this connection was often not made by residents themselves. Several mentioned health problems as the main reason they quit driving; two had lost their licenses. Regardless, most felt the decision to quit driving was voluntary and done at the “right time”. Except for a few people, this sample did not have depression symptoms and had adjusted to no longer driving. The majority (85%) had relatives in the area and most stayed connected to relatives and friends living outside the Village through visits and phone calls. Nearly all the residents (90%, n=18) received rides from others, most commonly from their daughters (70%), followed by friends outside the Village (60%). Half the sample said they used public buses occasionally, and those who did had significantly higher balance confidence scores on the ABC scale (73.33±18.50) compared to those who did not (49.44±21.02) (t=-2.69 p=0.015). Confidence scores, however, did not differ for those who used the Village shuttle (80%) and those who did not (20%). Based on their travel diaries, 76.5% of the residents (13/17) made at least one trip outside the Village over a two week period (average of 7.00±4.93, range 1 to 18), most often as a passenger in a private vehicle (58%). Recreation and social trips were the most common (44.2%), followed by: medical appointments (18%), shopping (17%), errands (15.3%) and religious activities (5.4%). The sample also took advantage of services and amenities inside the Village, including: meals in the dining room (95%), the café (90%), general store (80%), salon (65%), library (65%), laundry facilities as well as services of health professionals. They also participated in Village programs, including: music, concerts, movies (80%), physical activities (65%), games (55%) and religious services (50%). Conclusions: Seniors who can afford to live in upscale retirement homes may not suffer the adverse effects of driving cessation often found in community seniors. Despite advanced age and mobility restrictions (85% used a walker outdoors), these individuals remained connected to the outside community. This sample, at least, took advantage of the services and amenities in their Villages which may reduce their need for travel outside the Village. They do not appear to have unmet transportation needs, given that most had relatives in the area as well as other people to drive them when needed. More studies are needed on this growing segment of the senior population, particularly on other types of retirement facilities which may not offer as many services (such as shuttle buses or vans) for residents.

Road trauma is recognized as a major public health problem worldwide (particularly for younger drivers), and risky driving has been identified as an important contributor to road crashes. It is often assumed that similar factors influence all risky driving behaviours, although direct and systematic examination of the differences between risky driving behaviours in terms of precipitating factors is lacking. The present thesis sought to undertake a systematic investigation of relevant factors in the prediction of four key risky driving behaviours (speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts). Four versions of a Risky Driving Questionnaire were developed to assess beliefs, personality factors and behavioural intentions, in relation to each of the four behaviours. Four versions of the Implicit Association Test were developed to assess attitudes toward each of the four behaviours, without reliance on self-report (in terms of the relative strength of pairs of associations). Data were collected from a student sample (N=215: Study 1), as well as urban (N=587) and rural (N=422) general population samples (Study 2), and regression models were examined for each of the four behaviours, with interaction terms to assess moderations involving perceived risk. Mediations involving gender were also assessed. Results indicate that different risky driving behaviours are predicted by different factors. For example, in the urban sample, speeding was predicted by driver anger and illusory invulnerability, drink driving was predicted by peer influence, driving while fatigued was predicted by the perceived benefits of not driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts was predicted by the (sensation seeking x illusory invulnerability) interaction. Results also suggest that different predictors of risky driving behaviours are relevant for different driver populations. For example, speeding was predicted by authority rebellion in the urban sample, and by sensation seeking in the rural sample. Observed moderations of perceived risk suggest that relationships between perceived risk and risky driving may differ for males versus females, and for low versus high sensation seekers. Findings suggest that future road safety interventions should be based on research of the determinants of individual risky driving behaviours, and in specific driver populations.

The oil shortages and price rises of the 1970s led to a broad spectrum of policies designed to save fuel in transport. One such group of policies concentrated on utilising the longstanding observation that congestion-free driving improves vehicular fuel economy. In particular, improving the average speed of urban traffic was believed to reduce urban fuel use. Strategies to create free-flowing traffic networks through traffic engineering and management techniques became an integral part of most transport energy conservation strategies. At the same time urban systems studies were appearing which suggested that urban land use factors are fundamental in determining transport energy demand. Some cities with denser, more centralised developnent patterns and congested traffic systems appeared to have lower per capita transport energy use than cities with low density, dispersed land use and free-flowing traffic networks. Conflicts thus began to be recognised between these land use studies and the traffic studies but they were never systematically examined. This thesis focuses on explaining and attempting to resolve these apparent conflicts by drawing out the relative importance of freeflowing, fuel efficient traffic and broader land use/transport factors in determining urban system fuel efficiency. It does this by showing how a holistic understanding of transport energy use can be achieved by recognising the different levels of know1edge involved and by integrating research a t all these levels. Adopting this approach, a detailed examination is made of transport energy use in Perth, Western Australia. Spatial and temporal patterns of urban driving and vehicular fuel consumption are derived using a computer-instrumented vehicle within a framework of urban ecology. These patterns are described in detail and are found to be understandable in terms of a simple model of intersection and vehicle-based traffic events. Using this simple model, urban driving and fuel consumption patterns are then systematically linked back to their urban ecological framework. Centrality, as expressed by urban activity intensity emerges as the major underlying factor in both the urban ecological framework and driving patterns. Driving cycles for central to outer areas as well as the whole city are produced and a detailed examination is made of driving cycle development procedures, including the issue of data resolution. Two new methods of driving cycle synthesis are formulated. Driving cycles together with travel survey and land use/transport model data are then used to estimate spatial differences in transport energy use per capita within the urban ecological framework. This case study is used to test two conceptual models of transport energy conservation implied by the traffic and land use studies: a linear assumptions model which suggests reductions in urban system fuel use through freer-flowing traffic and a feedback assumptions model which introduces some possible broader system effects of free-flowing and congested traffic. The results suggest very strong support for the feedback model and a reversal of the linear model. Urban structural factors such as distance from the CBD and density are found to be the major explanatory factors of Perth's transport energy use. The much higher vehicular fuel consumption in Perth's inner areas due to restricted traffic flows are completely offset by energy conserving land use and transport features which result in lower per capita energy use in these areas; the lower vehicular fuel consumption in uncongested outer areas is swamped by land use factors which result in longer travel distances and less use of energy conserving modes, resulting in markedly higher per capita energy use, i .e. a trade-off is found between a fuel efficient traffic system and a fuel efficient urban system. It is concluded that policies which propose fuel savings from "blanket" improvements in urban trraffic flow, such as major road building programmes will be counter-productive, while urban planning policies which encourage higher density, more compact cities will tend to lower energy use. It is suggested that a key area of research is now how to combine selective traffic system improvements with urban land use policies so that both may work in concert to produce a more fuel efficient urban system.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Waikato, 2007. / Title from PDF cover (viewed February 29, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-156)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93). Also available via the Internet.