With advanced age, declines in physical and/or cognitive abilities make driving more difficult, and challenge the individual to make decisions about their driving. The main aim of this research was to explore how older adults make day-to-day decisions about driving, and how others' opinions influence them. This thesis addresses major gaps in the published literature on older driver decision processes, and how these processes differ across gender and habit strength for driving. An integrative mixed methods approach was used to study a convenience sample of 37 urban dwelling drivers, age 70 years and older. This exploratory research reveals that decisions about driving are dependent upon at least three main features: 1) interpretation of the driving environment; 2) types of information used and decision processes employed; and 3) influence other's opinions on driving decisions.Main findings are that older drivers evaluate their driving experience using three distinct components: 1) the driving environment; 2) people who drive; and 3) crashes. In the decision-making process, older drivers are characterized by their dynamic use of information wherein an item may be used to support the decision to drive some instances, but in other instances used in choices not to drive. Three categories of items are identified in a proposed Older Driver Decision Components Framework, and reflect this dynamic process: Motivators, Constraints/Motivators, and Context. Additionally, three groups of older drivers are identified based on their driving choices, and defined by characteristics such as gender, age, and habit for driving. Responses to comments about their driving also help define these groups. Results of the study provide a new direction for research on the older driver, and models are developed that may be used to form a basis for understanding older driver decision-making. Refinement of our knowledge about how elders assess their driving environment, and the subsequent choices they make, should be pursued to better understand how they adjust their transportation needs and desires to age-related changes. In turn, this knowledge may be used to design programs and policies to support the safe driving of our aging population.

Due to health conditions, the average 70 year old will outlive the ability to drive by 6 years for men and 10 years for women (Foley et al., 2002). Driving loss has a significantly negative impact on the quality of life of an older adult. For this reason, some continue to drive despite concerns about safety. Midlife family members of older adults often feel social pressure to intervene in driving decision-making and social pressure to refrain from intervening. The goal of this study was to understand the experiences of midlife family members from the time that someone first noticed a concern with the older relative's driving until the time the older adult stopped driving. A qualitative, multiple embedded case study approach was used to gather information from two midlife family members from 7 families with an older driver who had recently retired from driving. The family processes that influenced communication about driving and choice of strategies for intervening were examined. Findings indicated that the midlife family members became aware of safety issues at different times. Awareness prompted conversations with other relatives, and the majority of family conversations about driving did not include the older adult. Many family members reported a respect for the autonomy of the older relative and a reluctance to initiate conversations without permission from the older adult to do so. Intervention strategies reported by participants included (1) wait and worry, (2) nudging, (3) attempted conversation, (4) ending requests for driving assistance, (5) requesting assistance from physicians, (6) requesting assistance from the DMV, (7) requesting assistance from law enforcement, and (8) accepting the inability to end an older adult's driving career. Participants reported many factors that both helped and hindered efforts to encourage driving retirement. Based on these findings, an Ecological Model of Later-Life Decision-Making was proposed. The model reflects that the participants' efforts to encourage driving retirement were not simply a matter of intra-family communication, but were influenced by processes occurring at multiple levels, both within and outside of the family. Processes occurring at multiple levels both helped and hindered family members' efforts to encourage driving retirement.

By 2030 there will be about 70 million people in the United States who are older than 64. Approximately 26 percent of these will be racial and ethnic minorities. Overall, the older population will be more diverse and better educated than their earlier cohorts. The range of late-life outcomes is very dramatic with old age being a significantly different experience for financially secure and well-educated people than for poor and uneducated people. The early mission of behavioral science research focused on identifying problems of older adults, such as isolation, caregiving, and dementia. Today, the field of gerontology is more interdisciplinary. When I'm 64 examines how individual and social behavior play a role in understanding diverse outcomes in old age. It also explores the implications of an aging workforce on the economy. The book recommends that the National Institute on Aging focus its research support in social, personality, and life-span psychology in four areas: motivation and behavioral change; socioemotional influences on decision-making; the influence of social engagement on cognition; and the effects of stereotypes on self and others. When I'm 64 is a useful resource for policymakers, researchers and medical professionals.

Marc Lange, a professional race driver has a problem. His team is almost broke. So Marc vows to do whatever it takes to find the money to keep his team running and winning. Rene Dufour, after ten years of business Engagements - transporting people or things off the grid and under the radar, frequently to dangerous places - longs to retire. He decides to bring on a protege. Posing as a potential co-driver, Rene gets Marc to promise to do something in return for enough money to save his racing team. All Marc has to do is go with Rene on one of his business Engagements - simple enough. But when the bullets start flying and it comes down to a life or death situation, Marc knows he's in way over his head - can he survive his first Engagement?

As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.

Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.