Increasing Driving Safety Conversations Between Primary Care Providers and Older Adults

The older adult population (65 years and older) is increasing rapidly and age-related changes in vision, sensation, motor function, and cognition in addition to medications and medical conditions can have a deleterious effect on driving ability (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1999). Primary care providers (PCPs) are in an ideal position to assess these factors and initiate driving safety conversations with their patients, but have conversations about driving with their older adult patients less than 10% of the time (Betz, Kanani, Juarez-Colunga, & Schwartz, 2016). Aims. The objective of this project was to increase the rate of driving conversations in two primary care clinics serving Veterans. Methods. An educational presentation was created stressing the importance of having driving safety conversations, and addressed barriers to having these conversations. Provider comfort level was assessed, and a pre- and post-survey was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational intervention for improving knowledge and increasing the perceived importance of having driving safety conversations. A chart review was performed to evaluate rates of driving conversations. Results. There was no statistically significant change in rates of driving conversations between PCPs and their older adult patients as a result of the educational intervention (p = 0.438). Of the providers surveyed (n = 11), 100% incorrectly believed they were required by law to report potentially unsafe drivers. Conclusions. A simple education intervention among PCPs may not be enough to prompt conversations with older adults and driving safety. Prompts within the electronic medical record and templates embedded in provider notes should be considered for future efforts to increase driving conversations between PCPs and older adults.