Keywords

driver rehabilitation, driving cessation, driving retirement, older drivers

 

Authors

  1. Pellerito, Joseph M. Jr PhD, OTR, CDI

Abstract

Elderly women and men view driving retirement as a negative experience with numerous disabling consequences, resulting in decreased quality of life. Qualitative research methods were employed to examine participants' self-defined meanings and lived experiences around driving retirement. Data were derived from interviews of 30 participants living in Metropolitan Detroit in 2007. I examined the effects of driving retirement in terms of 3 categories of subjective phenomena: (1) negative or deleterious effects, (2) positive or beneficial effects, and (3) mixed effects of driving retirement. The latter 2 categories (ie, positive and mixed effects of driving retirement) provide new perspectives on this important topic.