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Informing the Development ofEducational Programs to Support OlderAdults in Retiring From DrivingOlive Bryanton a & Lori E. Weeks ba PEI Centre for the Study of Health and Aging , University of PrinceEdward Island , Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island , Canadab Department of Applied Human Sciences , University of PrinceEdward Island , Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island , CanadaAccepted author version posted online: 05 Mar 2014.Publishedonline: 04 Apr 2014.

To cite this article: Olive Bryanton & Lori E. Weeks (2014) Informing the Development of EducationalPrograms to Support Older Adults in Retiring From Driving, Educational Gerontology, 40:10, 756-766,DOI: 10.1080/03601277.2014.899131

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Informing the Development of Educational Programs toSupport Older Adults in Retiring From Driving

Olive Bryanton

PEI Centre for the Study of Health and Aging, University of Prince Edward Island,Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Lori E. Weeks

Department of Applied Human Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island,Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

It is clear that while transition from being a driver to being a non-driver is an important, and oftennegative, event in the life of older adults, there is little support available to help older adults throughthis transition. This study focuses on increasing our understanding of issues about driving cessationand to inform the development of educational programs to assist older adults in positively adaptingto retirement from driving. A total of 201 adults over age 70 with a valid driving license completed amailed survey containing both open and closed-ended questions. Of the 96% of participants whowere current drivers, 73.4% had never considered retiring from driving. While 70.6% of participantsindicated that an educational program could help people plan to retire from driving, 55.8% indicatedthe possibility that they would participate in such a program. Participants provided insights into theformat and content of educational programs to help older adults retire from driving including copingafter retirement from driving, alternative forms of transportation and how to access them, and helpingto decide when to retire from driving. It is imperative for practitioners to identify ways to help olderadults who are resistant to planning for retirement from driving.

It is clear that the transition from being a driver to being a non-driver is an important, and oftennegative, event in the lives of older adults. Loss of independence and spontaneity, decreasedquality of life, increased isolation, depressive symptoms, and increased financial costs are allpreviously identified consequences of driving cessation (Bauer, Rottunda, & Adler, 2003;Burkhardt, Berger, & McGavock, 1996; Shope, 2003; Windsor, Anstey, Butterworth, Luszcz,& Andrews, 2007). It is clear that mobility is an essential component of quality of life for olderadults (Bauer et al., 2003; Kostyniuk & Shope, 2003), and it can be considered an activity ofdaily living (Whitehead, Howie, & Lovell, 2006). While older adults should be encouraged todrive safely for as long as possible, support for planning for the transition to becoming anon-driver is also needed. In this study, we focus on informing the development of educationalresources to support older adults to plan to retire from driving in order to reduce the negativeimpact of driving cessation.

Address correspondence to Lori E. Weeks, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences, University

of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 4P3, Canada. E-mail: lweeks@upei.ca

Educational Gerontology, 40: 756–766, 2014Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0360-1277 print / 1521-0472 online

DOI: 10.1080/03601277.2014.899131

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It is evident from prior research that the majority of older adults does not plan or prepare fordriving cessation, and most rely primarily on self-driving as a means of transport (Bauer et al.,2003; Bryanton, Weeks, & Lees, 2010; Kostyniuk & Shope, 2003; Liddle, McKenna, &Broome, 2004; Rudman, Friedland, Chipman, & Sciortino, 2006: Whitehead et al., 2006;Yassuda, Wilson, & von Mering, 1997). This lack of planning was also recognized by theCanadian Medical Association (2006), which noted that despite the fact that life expectancyexceeds the ability to drive by 9.4 years for women and 6.2 years for men, most drivers donot plan well for driving cessation.

Researchers suggest that a range of resources are needed to improve planning for drivingcessation, to provide intensive support and education during the transition to driving cessation,and to enable the maintenance of safety and lifestyle following retirement from driving (Liddle,McKenna, & Broome, 2004). As identified by Liddle, McKenna and Bartlett (2006), the way inwhich older people experience the driving cessation process may be influenced by many factors,including their previous life experiences, health, coping style, social supports, beliefs aboutdriving, and alternative transport options. Therefore, rather than a single approach to drivingcessation, these researchers suggest that a program needs to be client-centered to enable retireddrivers to set and achieve individually meaningful goals. Bauer et al. (2003) contend that antici-pating driving cessation and choosing to stop driving on one’s own can instill a sense of prideand self-esteem.

Currently, there are few societal supports to help individuals cope with this transition. Severalresearchers have examined how to help older adults to drive safely for a longer period of time(Ashman, Bishu, Foster, & McCoy, 1994; Dickerson et al., 2007; Horowitz, Boerner, &Reinhardt, 2002), but there is a paucity of published research concerned with the design orimplementation of intervention programs intended to reduce the negative consequences of driv-ing cessation (Windsor & Anstey, 2006). Dellinger, Schgal, Sleet, and Barrett-Connor (2001)suggest that a better understanding of the natural history of driving cessation could determinewhether there are critical stages in the process when advice or counseling would be helpful.

Educational programs could aid older adults in understanding the physical, social, andpsychological implications of driving cessation as well as the benefits of taking a proactiveapproach, including planning ahead for retirement from driving (Whitehead et al., 2006;Yassuda et al., 1997). But such initiatives within the field of educational gerontology havereceived very little serious attention. The objectives of this study were to increase ourunderstanding of issues about driving cessation and to inform the development of educationalprograms to assist older adults in positively adapting to driving cessation.

In this study, we were guided by the concept of anticipatory socialization (Merton & Kitt,1950). Anticipatory socialization helps us to understand that the ability to positively adapt tochanges that may occur in the future depend, in part, on a person’s ability to anticipate and suc-cessfully plan for changes that may occur in their lives. While anticipatory socialization can beapplied to many life situations, in research on aging, it is a concept that is most commonlyapplied to retirement to examine how to help adults adjust to their own retirement and the retire-ment of their family members (i.e., Fitzpatrick, Vinick, & Bushfield, 2005). Older adults whotake responsibility to actively plan for the probability of eventual driving cessation could avoidsome of the undesirable practical and emotional consequences that could result from a suddenand unexpected need to retire from driving (Windsor et al., 2007). As our focus in this studyis preparing for retirement from driving, anticipatory socialization is useful in guiding this study.

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METHOD

In this study, we collected both qualitative and quantitative data from older adults about their currentdriving situation and their input into developing educational programs about driving cessation. Theuse of mixed-method designs is a growing trend because of a popularly held belief that an inves-tigation of different aspects of reality requires different methods of inquiry (Creswell & Tashakkori,2007; Sandelowski, 2000). Therefore, mixed-method designs are frequently used because they pro-vide an ability to develop a clearer understanding of these multiple realities. This approach is parti-cularly useful in understanding the need for educational programs about retirement from driving andin garnering input from older adults about the format and content of these programs.

The survey included both open and closed-ended questions for current drivers; questions for thosewho have retired from driving; questions about attitudes about planning to retire from driving; theprobability of participating in an educational program about planning for driving cessation; the typeof information that should be included in an educational program about retirement from driving; anddemographic characteristics. The survey took approximately 15 minutes to complete.

We obtained approval for this study from the Research Ethics Board at the University of PrinceEdward Island. Eligibility criteria included being at least age 70 and having a current driver’s license.The provincial Highway Safety Division of the Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Depart-ment randomly selected 1,000 people meeting the eligibility criteria including the parameters of equalproportions of men and women who were geographically representative of older adults the province.They mailed the packages prepared by the research team that included an introductory letter, consentform, survey, and postage paid return envelope. Participants also had the option of completing thesurvey by telephone with the research coordinator, and one participant selected this option.

As the research team did not have access to a list of people the survey packages were mailedto, we published an article in a local newspaper about the study to encourage anyone whoreceived a survey to volunteer to complete it. Of the 1,000 survey packages mailed, 12 werereturned due to an incorrect address or the person no longer lived at that address; and 201surveys received were usable, resulting in a response rate of 20%.

Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were used to analyze the quantitative datausing SPSS. We used a thematic analysis approach with the qualitative data, which is a formof pattern recognition allowing for themes to emerge directly using inductive coding (Fereday& Muir-Cochrane, 2006). This process involved generating initial codes, searching for themes,reviewing themes, and defining and naming themes that resulted in thematic codes thatrepresented patterned responses within the data set (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Thematic analysisis particularly useful in understanding influences and motivations related to how people respondto events (Luborsky, 1994); thus, it lent itself to developing a greater understanding of how tohelp older adults prepare for retirement from driving.

RESULTS

Participant Characteristics

A summary of the participant characteristics is located in Table 1. The participants ranged in agefrom 71 to 96 (M! 78, SD! 6.0) with 72.1% of participants between the ages of 70 and 80. We

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had a very good response rate for both men and women, with a slightly higher number of malethan female participants. Most were married or had a partner (66.1%) or widowed (24.4). Almostall were not currently employed (92.0%). The educational status of the sample was quite highwith 56.2% completing training beyond high school. Almost 90% indicated having a self-reported health status of at least good. In addition to indicating their health status, participantswere invited to write a list of their most significant health conditions. The most frequently

TABLE 1Demographic Characteristics

Characteristic n! 201 %

Age70—75 82 40.8

76—80 63 31.3

81—85 23 11.4

86" 30 15.0Missing 3 1.5

Gender

Men 108 53.7Women 93 46.3

Marital Status

Married or has a partner 133 66.1

Widowed 49 24.4Divorced or separated 10 5.0

Never married 7 3.5

No response 2 1.0

Employment statusNo paid work, retired 185 92.0

Works part or full-time 16 8.0

EducationLess than high school 44 21.9

Completed high school 38 18.9

Some higher education, less than a degree 77 38.3

University degree or higher 36 17.9No response 6 3.0

Self-reported health status

Very poor, poor 3 1.5

Fair 13 6.5Good 87 43.3

Very good 67 33.3

Excellent 26 12.9No response 5 2.5

Living situation

Live alone 54 26.9

Live with others 144 71.6No response 3 1.5

Type of community lived in

Urban 93 46.3

Small town or village 26 12.9Rural 78 38.8

No response 4 2.0

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reported conditions were arthritis, diabetes, heart conditions, eye conditions, hearing loss, highblood pressure, lung conditions, cancer, knee and hip surgery, and back and spine problems.While just over one-quarter of participants lived alone, the remainder of participants lived withvarious people including spouses, children, friends, and other older adults in a care facility. Thesample was quite evenly split between those who lived in an urban and in a non-urbancommunity.

Driving Status

Table 2 contains information about the driving status of the participants.. All participants had avalid driving license, and 96% were current drivers. Most of the participants drove on a dailybasis, with women driving less frequently than men. More women had retired from driving(6.5%) compared to men (1.9%). These participants indicated a wide variety of reasons forno longer driving including no longer feeling comfortable driving, having lost confidence inone’s ability to drive, and experiencing health challenges. One respondent stated, ‘‘I knewmy time was up and my friend said I gave up driving very graciously.’’ Another respondentstated, ‘‘I thought about it for three months and made some plans.’’

TABLE 2Driving Status and Input into Education about Retirement from Driving by Gender

Item

Men Women Total

n % n % n %

Are you a current driver?

Yes 106 98.1 87 93.5 193 96.0No 2 1.9 6 6.5 8 4.0

How regularly do you drive

Daily 82 77.4 48 57.8 130 68.8Several times a week 23 21.7 29 34.9 52 27.5

Less often than weekly 1 0.9 6 7.2 7 3.7

Have you considered retiring from driving?

Yes 30 28.3 21 24.4 51 26.6No 76 71.7 65 75.6 141 73.4

Would retiring from driving change your life?

Yes 101 95.3 82 94.3 183 94.8

No 5 4.7 5 5.7 10 5.2Would an educational program help people who plan to retire from driving?

Yes 19 20.4 16 20.8 35 20.6

Maybe 45 48.4 40 51.9 85 50.0No 17 18.3 14 18.2 31 18.2

I don’t know 12 12.9 7 9.1 19 11.2

Would you participate in an educational program about retirement from driving?

Yes 11 11.6 16 20.8 27 15.7Maybe 40 42.1 29 37.7 69 40.1

No 42 44.2 27 35.1 69 40.1

I don’t know 2 2.1 5 6.5 7 4.1

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Of the current drivers, the vast majority (73.4%) had never considered retiring from driving,and the results for men and women were quite similar for this variable. The respondents werequite clear about when they felt it would be time to retire from driving. One participant indicatedretirement from driving would occur ‘‘whenever I feel I am a danger to myself or others, or froma medical recommendation.’’ Another participant explained that ‘‘I would recognize myself thatI should stop driving.’’ Some participants looked more toward others to make the decision tostop driving, such as a physician. It was very clear that retirement from driving would changethe lives of most participants significantly with only 5.2% indicating that retirement from drivingwould not change their lives.

Input into Developing Educational Programs about Retirement from Driving

In Table 2, we included quantitative results about educational programs to support older adults toretire from driving. Approximately one-fifth of participants indicated that they felt an edu-cational program would help people plan to retire from driving. An additional 50% indicated thatthis might be a helpful endeavor, with similar results for men and women. When asked if theywould participate in such a program, 15.7% indicated yes and 40.1% indicated maybe. Whilechi-square analysis did not result in significant differences for men and women, women indi-cated a slightly higher likelihood of participating in an educational program about retirementfrom driving than men. A small number of survey respondents indicated in their responses thatan educational program about retirement from driving would be unnecessary, ineffectual, or aninsult to active seniors. For example, one respondent emphasized why some older adults wouldnot attend an educational program to retire from driving. ‘‘Since retiring from driving is some-thing that is traumatic, and you don’t know when it might be necessary, people are not going totake part in programs preparing for it. It’s a little like preparing for death.’’

After responding to the closed-ended questions, participants responded to open-ended ques-tions to garner their input into the format and content about educational programs on retirementfrom driving. Many participants provided written information about the format that an edu-cational program about retirement from driving should take. Examples provided were a presen-tation you can attend and written materials you can read on your own. Just over one-quarter ofour sample wrote that the options of attending a presentation and=or receiving written materialswould be useful for older adults. Participants could write as many answers as they wished, andoften listed several different formats they felt would be useful such as ‘‘A presentation I couldattend combined with some reading material.’’ Several participants expanded on the specificformat for presentations that could include visual aids, such as videos; participant interaction,such as workshops; and speakers who have already retired from driving: ‘‘A visual presentationgiven by someone who has been in retirement for a considerable time.’’

Survey respondents also provided input into the number and length of face-to-face sessions.While responses ranged widely, the participants indicated that individual sessions should befrom one–two hours long and from two–five different sessions should be held. Interestingly,one participant indicated that information would be provided by their family: ‘‘I would beadvised by my family if they were concerned about my safety and that of others.’’ A novelformat suggested by one participant entailed a local TV news program including a ‘‘DrivingTip of the Week’’ in the newscast.

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The participants identified several topics that should be included in the content of an edu-cational program to help older adults retire from driving. The themes identified as content forsessions are coping after retirement from driving, alternative forms of transportation and howto access them, and helping to decide when to retire from driving. Each of these themes isexplored in more depth below.

The first theme that the participants indicated should be part of an educational program aboutretirement from driving was coping after retirement from driving. The survey respondents feltthat it would be useful for an educational program to help older adults understand the impactthat retirement from driving will have on their own lives and the lives of others around themsuch as how to deal with it psychologically and to understand that life is not over. For example,one participant articulated that ‘‘Seniors need not stay at home if they do not have a car or can nolonger drive. It just takes a bit of extra planning and thought.’’ One suggestion for how to helpolder adults cope is to provide opportunities for peer support. ‘‘After I stop driving, I would liketo meet with others who have had to stop driving for an exchange of information.’’

The second theme we identified was that educational programs should include information onvarious alternative forms of transportation including taxis, buses, ride sharing, walking, andusing volunteer driver services. As one participant said, ‘‘One should be familiar with what alter-natives are available.’’ The forms of transportation identified varied widely and included sys-tems of transportation that can be purchased including taxis, public transit, buses, and payingsomeone to drive retired drivers in their own car. Participants suggested that older adults alsoneeded to know about low-cost or no-cost transportation options such as encouraging familyand friends to give retired drivers gift certificates for taxi companies and learning how to accessvolunteers to provide drives to appointments.

In addition to knowing about what transportation options are available, the participants alsosuggested that the educational sessions include how to access each form of transportation (i.e.,understanding bus routes); limitations of each option; how to accept transportation assistance fromfamily and friends; how much each option costs; and the cost of each option compared to owningand operating a vehicle. For example, one participant said to include ‘‘a comparison of costs andcar insurance, depreciation, repairs and fuel costs with costs of other methods of transportation.’’In addition, several participants identified particular challenges in obtaining alternate forms oftransportation in rural places: ‘‘I do not feel added information on this subject would be veryhelpful—especially in rural areas.’’ One participant suggested that public school buses could beused not only by children, but also by anyone needing transportation in rural places.

The third theme identified for the content that educational programs should include is how to helpolder adults decide to retire from driving, or as one respondent aptly put it: ‘‘suggestions on how toretire from driving with grace.’’ Survey respondents felt that participants in educational programsshould be provided with information about signs to look for to indicate that they should stop driving:‘‘How do you know when one should stop driving, signs and symptoms.’’ Content on this themecould also include consequences of continuing to drive, both for the driver and others on the road.

DISCUSSION

While we do not suggest that indicating on a survey willingness to participate in an educationalprogram about retirement from driving will translate into participation in this type of program,

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our results provide insight into the willingness of many older adults to participate in an edu-cational program about retirement from driving. These results show support for the need todevelop educational programs about retirement from driving. It is interesting that our parti-cipants indicated greater likelihood of believing that retirement from driving would be helpfulto older adults in general, but they were less likely to indicate that they would participate in thistype of program. This provides evidence that educational programs should be targeted at notonly older adults who intend to retire from driving, but also to others who can then provide infor-mation and support to those dealing with retirement from driving. The qualitative data revealedthat some older adults expect to receive information about retiring from driving from membersof their social network such as family members. This indicates that educational initiatives aboutretirement from driving should not be directed at older adults exclusively, but also to the familymembers of older adults.

As we know that life expectancy exceeds the ability to drive for older men and women(Canadian Medical Association, 2006), one of the main reasons we conducted this study wasto identify how to best support older adults in learning about how to successfully retire fromdriving. Our results clearly indicate that many older adults would not participate in an edu-cational program about retirement from driving. The quantitative results showed that almostone-fifth of participants did not feel that an educational program would be helpful, and 40%would not participate in an educational program. In the open-ended questions, some participantsalso expanded on their beliefs that these programs are not needed. It is plausible that some olderadults feel well-equipped to deal with these issues on their own without an educational program.However, it is possible that many older adults do not wish to think about or plan for a time whenthey may have to stop driving at some point in the future.

Practitioners need to be aware that some older adults are very resistant to anticipating theirretirement from driving; thus, they are not planning for changes that may occur in their lives(Merton & Kitt, 1950). It is imperative for practitioners to identify ways to help older adults planfor retirement from driving for those who are very resistant to this topic. According to Chang andLin (2011), motivational factors for older adults to participate in educational programs are bothpersonal and environmental. They found that those who are younger and more highly educatedare more likely to participate in educational programs than those who are older with lower edu-cation levels. However, those with the highest motivation to participate in educational programswere younger women living alone. Thus, educational efforts about retirement from driving needto be targeted at specific populations including men, those who are older, and those with lowereducational levels.

It is clear from our results that any educational efforts about retirement from driving should bedelivered using multiple methods in order to reach as many older adults as possible. Receivingwritten materials to read on one’s own and attending educational sessions were both highlyacceptable to the participants in this study. This is, perhaps, not surprising as we included thoseoptions as examples of educational formats on our survey. Additional approaches to educationalprograms should also be considered such as using various forms of media such as television andthe Internet.

The participants provided interesting insights into the content that should be included in edu-cational programs about retirement from driving, including coping after retirement from driving.It is clear that as retirement from driving is a major life transition. As such, those delivering thesesessions should include mental health professionals who are equipped to deal with the various

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emotions that can be elicited from these sessions. In addition, it appears advantageous for thosewho have already retired from driving to take part in these educational programs to share theirexperiences with coping after retirement from driving. The use of older adults as peer educatorsis particularly well-documented in the chronic illness and health promotion literature and inlifelong learning institutes (Castro, Pruitt, Buman, & King, 2011; Choi, 2009; Hainsworth, &Barlow, 2003; Truncali, Dumanovsky, Stollman, & Angell, 2010); and such literature couldcertainly be adapted for use in educational programs about retirement from driving.

Educational sessions should include information on various alternative forms of transpor-tation that are customized to the geographic location in which the sessions are held. For example,this content would differ greatly depending on whether the sessions were held in urban or rurallocations. Few transportation options are available in rural places other than driving (Dye,Willoughby, & Battisto, 2011). It would appear that providing time in sessions for participantsto brainstorm additional ideas would be beneficial. In addition, presenting some novel ideasidentified by participants in our study and a discussion of ways to implement them would alsobe beneficial. An example would be exploring the feasibility of an expanded role for schoolbuses in rural areas.

Our results need to be interpreted with caution as our sample included a relatively highly edu-cated group of older adults in quite good self-reported health status. However, we did obtain asample representative of both men and women of various ages with other characteristics similarto the older adult population in our province. As we collected data for this study in one Canadianprovince, the generalizability of our results may be limited to informing educational programs inother jurisdictions with similar characteristics. These would be areas with a large number ofolder adults living in rural places and locations where most people depend on private vehiclesfor transportation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide important information for those who are interested in developing educationalprograms designed for older adults to help them to plan for retirement from driving. Our resultsindicate that this is a very difficult topic for many older adults to address in their lives; as such,there is a need for trained mental health workers to be involved in these educational programs. Inaddition to helping older adults meet their transportation needs, educational programs focused onincreasing personal agency can help to maximize mental health outcomes (Windsor et al., 2007).We encourage educators to use our results to develop programs designed to help older adultsplan for retirement from driving. And special attention should be paid to target educationalprograms at those who are unlikely to participate in such programs including those in olderage categories and those who have lower educational levels.

FUNDING

Funding for this study was provided by a Social Sciences and Humanities Council of CanadaInstitutional Grant to the University of Prince Edward Island. We thank the PEI Highway SafetyDivision for their in-kind support of this study and Lydia Graham for her assistance with dataentry and analysis.

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