A postgraduate research opportunity at the University of Otago.
Details
- Close date
- Sunday, 1 December 2019
- Academic background
- Humanities, Sciences, Health Sciences
- Host campus
- Dunedin
- Qualification
- Master’s
- Department
- Preventive and Social Medicine (DSM)
- Supervisors
- Dr Rebecca Brookland, Professor Jennie Connor
Overview
Several project opportunities exist with the Transport, Mobility and Health Research Team in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, as part of the Older Driver Cohort Study “Predictors and impact of driving cessation on older adults and whānau/families”.
This Older Driver Cohort Study, funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, is a prospective cohort study of drivers over 65 years and family members. It will examine individual and family factors associated with driving self-regulation and cessation, and assess the impact of these changes on social, psychological, health and mobility outcomes.
Further details
Driving self-regulation involves drivers reducing their driving or avoiding difficult situations to minimise their risk of being in a crash. For example, a driver with visual impairment may self-regulate their driving by deciding to no longer drive at night. Self-regulation implies that drivers make adjustments in their behaviour that adequately match changes in their functional ability (cognitive, sensory, motor). However, much of this is speculation and more needs to be known about the extent to which drivers recognise and act on the need to self-regulate. This master’s project is to review the research literature in this area and use data collected from the Older Driver Cohort at baseline to:
Describe self-regulation practices among older drivers in New Zealand, and associations of self-regulation with age, gender and a range of health-related and social factors.
