Department of Occupational Therapy Program Faculty Articles

CarFit: An evaluation of behaviour change and impact

Publication Title

The British Journal of Occupational Therapy

ISSN

0308-0226

Publication Date

12-2010

Keywords

CarFit

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: CarFit is a community-based educational programme developed to address driver-vehicle fit and vehicle safety feature use among older drivers in the United States. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and impact of the CarFit programme.
Method: Four separate CarFit events were conducted using the standardised 12-point checklist, after which participants were provided with a questionnaire to complete and return.
Results: The results revealed that 95% of the 54 participants felt that CarFit was somewhat or very useful. Information about the programme reached beyond the study participants because 74% discussed the programme with others and 96% were somewhat or very likely to recommend CarFit. Feelings of programme usefulness were associated positively with the likelihood of recommending CarFit (χ2(6) = 32.502, p<0.001). Safety behaviours also changed as evidenced by reports of vehicle safety feature adjustments, most notably to the outside mirrors, head restraint and steering wheel tilt.
Conclusion: The results suggest that an interactive community education programme such as CarFit can change the safety behaviours of older drivers. The potential for increased societal impact exists due to the significant sharing of information by CarFit participants.

DOI

10.4276/030802210X12918167234208

Volume

73

Issue

12

First Page

589

Last Page

597

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

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