Automated Cars and Persons living with/Without dementia

Full Study Title

Use of Automated Vehicle Technologies by Persons with Dementia

Study Description

In North America, driving is often important for carrying out everyday tasks. If older adults with dementia are asked to give up driving, their lives may be disrupted. Many have to adjust to different routines or even move to a different residence. However, if a car can perform some or all of the driving tasks (automated cars), individuals with dementia may be able to continue driving safely, longer.

Automated cars have the potential to help older adults with dementia. However, no study to date has studied whether older adults with dementia can safely perform the driving tasks required by some automated cars. We hope that the information learned from this study may
be used to ultimately make automated vehicles usable by older adults living with dementia.

This study aims to evaluate the safety and acceptability of using a certain type of automated vehicles among healthy older adults, individuals with Subjective Cognitive Complaints, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and dementia.

Eligibility Criteria

Three groups of individuals can participate in this study:

Individuals who are 65 and older and physically and cognitively healthy.
Individuals who are 65 and older and report Subjective Cognitive Complaints.
Individuals who are 65 or older and have received a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment from their physician.
Individuals who are 65 or older and have received a diagnosis of dementia from their physician.

Duration and Compensation

The study includes a brief phone interview to determine eligibility and two visits to Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in addition to a third optional post-study interview. Each visit takes about two hours. Participants will receive compensation for their time.

Principal Investigator

This study is conducted by Dr. Alex Mihailidis, Dr. Gary Naglie, Dr. Jennifer Campos, Dr. Mark Rapoport, Dr. Elaine Stasiulis, and Dr. Gelareh Hajian (Postdoctoral Research Fellow). If you have questions about the study, please contact: gelareh.hajian@uhn.ca

Ethics approval

This study has been approved by the Research Ethics Board of the University Health Network (REB# 20-5090)

Participate

If you want to participate in this study, you can sign up below. By signing up you agree to be contacted by a research member of our team, but you do not commit to participating in the study. You can decline your participation at any time.