Friday, October 23, 2015
Haley Johnson, Benjamin McManus, Caitlin Pope at the 23rd Annual Scientific Symposium for the UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging.
Caitlin Pope, MA, was selected to present her research at the 23rd Annual Scientific Symposium for the UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging. Ms. Pope’s poster, “Relations between self-reported executive function and unsafe driving behaviors in older adults,” examined the relationship between self-reported behavioral manifestations of cognitive difficulty and the frequency of unsafe driving behaviors in older adults. She found that cognition, self-reported executive function and selective attention, accounted for a substantial amount of variance (42.5%) in unsafe driving behaviors with older adult drivers. Ms. Pope adds, as technology becomes more prevalent and integrated into our daily lives, baby boomers may exhibit unsafe driving behaviors that are not commonly associated with older drivers. Further research into these behaviors and how to stop them are certainly warranted.
Through interdisciplinary programs, the UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging is committed to optimizing the health and well-being of all older adults and their families. The center is a world leader in creating and using knowledge that will optimize function, enhance management of illness and improve health for older adults.
Efforts in optimizing function include research and therapy in the areas of mobility, cognition, vision and continence. Center faculty are working to improve the management of illness in the complex older adult through research on the basic mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases, especially for those older adults with advanced problems and multiple chronic conditions. The Center is pursuing improved health for all older adults by eliminating or reducing disparities based on age, socio-economic status, race or rural residence.
