Recommendations for meeting the transportation needs of Michigan’s aging population.

Details

• Creators:
  Eby, David W. ; Molnar, Lisa J. ; Kostyniuk, Lidia P. ; St. Louis, Renée M. ; Zanier, Nicole
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Michigan. Transportation Research Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  Michigan. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research and Best Practices
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Abstracts
  • Aged drivers
  • Aged
  • Mobility
  • Senior Mobility
  • Older Adults
  • Community Mobility
  • Caregiving
  • Aging Society
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RC-1562
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Michigan
• Corporate Publisher:
  Michigan. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  "Mobility, or the ability to get from place to place, is important for everyone. Mobility enables people to ; conduct activities of daily life, stay socially connected with their world, participate in activities that make ; life enjoyable, and increase their quality of life. In the United States, and indeed in Michigan, personal ; mobility is frequently equated with being able to drive a personal automobile. However, because of agerelated ; medical conditions and the medications used to treat them, as people age into older adulthood ; they are more likely to experience declines in abilities needed for safe driving. Because of the preference ; for the personal automobile, and the lack of acceptable mobility alternatives, one focus of efforts to ; enhance safe mobility for older adults is to keep older adults driving for as long as they can safely do so. ; At the same time, society has a responsibility to help maintain mobility for those who are unable or ; choose not to drive. As the population of older adults in Michigan continues to grow, it is becoming more ; and more critical that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) understand the mobility needs ; of older adults and incorporate these needs into transportation facility design and planning. This project ; provided the background information needed to help MDOT identify where to concentrate resources to ; maximize the safe mobility of Michigan’s aging population. The overall goal of the project was to help ; maintain the safety and well-being of Michigan’s older adult residents by developing a set of low-cost, ; high-impact measures that could be implemented by MDOT. This goal was achieved through a literature ; review, an analysis of demographic data, and statewide surveys of older adults and family ; members/caregivers for Michigan older adults in order to gain a better understanding of the travel and ; residency patterns, gaps in transportation services, and the transportation needs and wants of Michigan ; older adult residents and the population of adults who provide care and/or transportation assistance to ; Michigan older adults. The complete results of these research activities, a list of measures for ; improving older adult mobility in Michigan, and an implementation plan are included in this report."
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  2010-0296
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/23538/dot_23538_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.37 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:116abb08beccf8842f94bc513dfa6b5a539b848f8e6c9fc9b8649b89db4e18ebcfeb731a98b5356bf4fa563bced461f4a7a0f6618b73660a4d314ea22e1e11da