This report on the mobility needs and safety problems of ageing populations dispels many of the myths and misperceptions commonly held regarding elderly road users, and offers policy and research recommendations to provide for their safe, lifelong mobility.

The future of disability in America will depend on how well the U.S. prepares for and manages the demographic, fiscal, and technological developments that will unfold during the next two to three decades. Building upon two prior studies from the Institute of Medicine (the 1991 Institute of Medicine's report Disability in America and the 1997 report Enabling America), The Future of Disability in America examines both progress and concerns about continuing barriers that limit the independence, productivity, and participation in community life of people with disabilities. This book offers a comprehensive look at a wide range of issues, including the prevalence of disability across the lifespan; disability trends the role of assistive technology; barriers posed by health care and other facilities with inaccessible buildings, equipment, and information formats; the needs of young people moving from pediatric to adult health care and of adults experiencing premature aging and secondary health problems; selected issues in health care financing (e.g., risk adjusting payments to health plans, coverage of assistive technology); and the organizing and financing of disability-related research. The Future of Disability in America is an assessment of both principles and scientific evidence for disability policies and services. This book's recommendations propose steps to eliminate barriers and strengthen the evidence base for future public and private actions to reduce the impact of disability on individuals, families, and society.

Promoting Safe Transportation among Older Adults: Perspectives and Strategies provides a concise, comprehensive, and up-to-date resource on safe mobility for an aging population. The book offers an interdisciplinary perspective for understanding and influencing the behavior of older adults with regard to their safe transportation. It is organized around the professions and disciplines that have a stake in the safe transportation of older adults and the role they play at each stage of their mobility needs. The book also addresses the various strategies that have been used to help keep older adults safe and mobile. Readers will find great insights on key issues related to aging and mobility, giving them an overarching framework for how to maintain safe mobility into older adulthood. The book enables readers to understand the perspectives of the critical groups of people involved in keeping older people safe and explores existing strategies by which an aging individual can maintain safe mobility. - Utilizes a multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach for examining the complexities of transportation for older adults - Offers an integrated, overarching narrative for understanding the key issues of safety and mobility in our aging society - Written by leading transportation and health scholars - Offers insights into the perspectives of all the stakeholders, such as hands-on transportation and health practitioners, students of varying levels, researchers and policymakers

This comprehensive volume examines the gradual reduction of mobility in the elderly. The authors first review the physiological and psychological changes that occur as we age, and go on to illustrate how this gradual decrease in adequate mobility can lead to an increase in automotive accidents. They also review the limitations that mass transportation systems and driving individual vehicles present for the elderly, and discuss different assistive devices that have been and should be implemented to help improve mobility. Each chapter ends with insightful commentaries by specialists in the gerontology field. This book is a must read for gerontologists as well as policy makers and educators on courses in organizational structures of social policy.

Outdoor mobility in old age is a complex phenomenon. On the one hand, it is a basic human need and means the physical ability to move. On the other, it means the realization of all types of trips out-of-doors, either by foot or by means of transportation. In addition, societal and individual necessities, modern values and economic interests mutually reinforcing each other have resulted in mobility as an ever more important precondition of ensuring the ability to lead an autonomous life and participate actively in society according to one's individual needs. Mobility also promotes healthy ageing, delays the onset of disabilities, and postpones frailty, thereby contributing to subjective well-being and life satisfaction. With advancing age, however, maintaining mobility may become jeopardized because of the increasing risk of physical and sensory impairments. This book includes information on older people's actual out-of-home mobility, on the transportation tools used, the prevalence of typical problems associated with out-of-home mobility, the impact of health, social networks, the home and neighbourhood environments, and psychological aspects on their mobility and activities, differences between urban and non-urban areas, and age and gender differences. In addition, a new model of mobility is suggested and the relation between mobility and quality of life is analysed. The book concludes with implications for social and transport policies, urban planning, and industrial pursuits for meeting the mobility needs of ageing adults.