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Abstract
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Too many American authors to count have written about our country's love affair with “the open road.” Arguably one of the best was Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. His Travels With Charley: In Search of America (Steinbeck, 1962) is a classic road trip memoir—and, perhaps surprisingly, a classic case-in-point for geriatrics expertise.
Steinbeck was approximately 60 when he embarked on the memoir's namesake road trip with his dog, Charley (Newman, 2018). A lifelong smoker, Steinbeck was already living with several chronic conditions, including heart disease (Newman, 2018). By our standards, he would have been a prime candidate for geriatrics expertise. So, too, perhaps would his road trip!
Like Steinbeck, many of us—particularly older adults—see driving as more than just a national pastime and a means of transportation. Driving reflects our independence, mobility, and freedom. But as our health changes with age, we know our reliance solely on independent driving must follow suit (Pomidor, 2019). The real questions for many older adults—and many geriatrics health professionals, to be candid—are “When?” and “What next?”
A newly updated guide from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) developed through a Cooperative Agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) aims to make those questions easier to address by again putting health care professionals on the road to success in assessing and counseling older drivers ...
Language: en |