CarFreeMe™-Dementia a Promising Driving Retirement Support Tool
Driving retirement can be a stressful transition for aging adults, resulting in higher rates of depression and less social engagement for the person giving up their keys. For families affected by dementia, the process can be extra difficult; The person living with dementia may not realize their driving abilities are being impacted and feel like they won’t be as independent. Families wonder how to have emotionally difficult, but necessary conversations about not driving that maintain the person’s dignity and safety.
CarFreeMe™-Dementia is person-centered programming aiming to support persons living with dementia and their care partners navigate driving retirement through in-depth conversations. Our coaches talk through tough topics like how dementia affects driving, balancing safety and independence, adjusting to loss, and self-care strategies. Phase one was a test of the feasibility and acceptability of the tele-coaching approach and other small programming modifications for a US audience. (It was originally an in-person, group-based intervention developed by researchers in Australia). This second phase evaluated how well the program affected specific well-being outcomes and driving retirement preparedness.
A total of 50 families (17 care partners, 16 retiring/retired drivers with memory loss, and 17 care partner-retiring/retired driver dyads) participated in up to 8 sessions with our coaches. Nearly all participants said they would recommend the intervention. Despite the small sample size, we found statistically significant effects: Persons living with dementia had reduced depressive symptoms and driving retirement preparedness improved. Care partners had reduced senses of isolation and relationship strain.
A retiring driver living with dementia described how the CarFreeMe™-Dementia programming:
“[helped] me to narrow down what it is I specifically have to do to accomplish not driving, because I know that day is coming, so … I’m preparing myself so that it’s less stressful.”
From participating with their spouse, a care partner said that:
“It created an atmosphere where talking about stopping driving was less emotional. We were able to talk about deciding when and what limitations should be placed on his driving.”
Clinical translation summary
“There are currently no evidence-based care-provider interventions to facilitate driving retirement with persons living with dementia and their families. Interventions that do exist are mainly limited to web-based self-guided tools. CarFreeMe™-Dementia fills a critical care gap with its flexible and tailored coaching approach that empowers the person with dementia to engage in driving retirement decisions and attend to a family’s emotional and practical needs before, during, and after driving retirement. Pilot findings show initial support for the CarFreeMe™-Dementia intervention, suggesting it may be an effective clinical or community tool addressing practical and emotional aspects of dementia and driving retirement." (Peterson et al., 2024)