Under Pressure
Medical Conditions and Driving Fitness of Older Taxi Drivers: A National Database Study
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mei Leng Chan
Taxi driving has been associated with the risk of various diseases e.g. cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, back pain. Little is known about the relationship between health conditions and driving fitness of older taxi drivers who continue to work. This study aims to investigate the (i) prevalence of medical conditions (ii) relationship between age and medical conditions with on-road tests in the relicensing process of taxi drivers above 70 years of age. To do this, 855 relicensing records of taxi drivers aged 70, 73 and 74 years from 2014-2015 were analysed retrospectively. All passed their medical fitness screening. 97.8% passed their driving tests. 31.2%, 36.3% and 23.9% reported none, one and two medical conditions respectively. These included hypertension (56.1%), eye disease (25.1%), diabetes (23.8%), corrected hearing impairment (14.1%), hyperlipidemia (12.1%), heart disease (9.3%). Deafness (p<0.001) was associated with older age. No past medical condition affected driving outcome. Older Singaporean taxi drivers were healthy and generally competent drivers. Early effective preventive health screening and modifable lifestyle intervention are recommended in older taxi drivers.
Sustainable Design for Aged Care: Incorporating Components of Wellbeing
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lara Calder
Imagine living in a place that you never leave. One that you live in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Imagine that place with deep spaces and long windowless corridors, requiring the lights to be on continually and where the air is pumped in to a steady hum of artificial systems, where the windows remain firmly closed. This finely controlled indoor world is one of unchanging constancy where artificial comfort control denies people the ability to react to the environmental stimuli that they were designed for. The human body is guided by five senses that help us interpret and respond to changing situations around us - sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. We need these senses to be engaged and regularly stimulated for us to feel alive and connected. If these senses are not properly actively used, they become unresponsive and useless and as a result people can become clinically depressed and unwell. Depression rates in nursing homes are high. If depression is not a natural part of ageing but an illness on its own it then begs the question considered in this study: How much does environmental stimuli affect behaviour, mood, energy levels, general health and sleep patterns?
The Development of Brain Training Box Innovation on Dementia Prevention Among Older People
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yupawan Thongtanunam
Over 16% of the total population of Thailand is over sixty years old and it is expected to become an aged society in 2021. Dementia is a very common condition in the elderly especially in the dependent group and affects the quality of their life. The purpose of this research was to develop a brain training model to prevent dementia among the elderly and to test the effectiveness of Brain Training Box for Dementia Prevention in elderly (BT-Box for DPE). The research and development processes were divided into two phases: Phase1, the evidence of dementia prevention were systematically reviewed for model developing appropriate with Thai elderly. Phase2, Thirty Elderly ADL score 5-11 dwelling in Nonthaburi Municipality were conveniently selected to participate in the study based on G*Power Analysis. One group pre-post test design was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the BT-Box. TH-SLUMs test (CVI=0.93, =0.99) modified from the St Louis University Mental Status were used for dementia risk evaluation. The satisfaction data of the elderly and their relatives towards the BT-Box and focus group among care providers were collected using instructional interviewing questions. The findings showed that using the BT-Box composed of games that promote concentration, observation, aptitude, and memory as well as music therapy decreased the risk of dementia in elderly statistically significant at .05. Elderly care providers should encourage their elderly to train their brain continuously within the relaxing atmosphere without pressure. In addition, using BT-Box can also promote social interaction within the family.
