P2-253 DRIVERS WITH DEMENTIA: ATTITUDES ANDBELIEFS OF OLDER ADULTS, DRIVINGEXAMINERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENTOFFICERS

Susan J. Rottunda1, Geri Adler2, 1Minneapolis VA Medical Center-GRECC, Minneapolis, MN, USA; 2University of Houston, Houston, TX,USA. Contact e-mail: susan.rottunda@med.va.gov

Background: Heightened awareness and concern about the driving com-petence and safety of drivers with Alzheimer’s disease has resulted indiscussions about mandatory driving assessments at the time of diagnosisand periodically thereafter. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitativestudy was to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and preferences of healthy olderadults, driving examiners and law enforcement officers with regard toretesting drivers with Alzheimer’s disease as well as those with Parkin-son’s disease and adults at varying ages. Methods: Participants werepresented with four vignettes depicting a driver with Alzheimer’s disease,a driver with Parkinson’s disease, a healthy driver at age 70, and a healthydriver at age 90. They were asked why the driver in each vignette shouldor should not have their driving skills reevaluated at the time of driver’slicense renewal. Interviews were conducted with 52 healthy older adults,20 driving examiners, and 19 law enforcement officers. Responses weretape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Descriptive statistics were used tocharacterize demographic information collected from the subjects. Results:Results of this study showed strong support across all groups for retestingolder drivers with Alzheimer’s disease. A variety of reasons were given forfavoring testing. A police officer recalled locating a driver with Alzhei-mer’s disease who “had been missing for five days,” noting that if thedriver “had been tested, maybe he would not have been on the road.” Anolder adult stated, “if anyone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at anyage . . . they should be fully tested to make sure that everything is okay.”Participants were less confident that age alone, in the absence of functionalimpairments, was a good predictor of driving ability, and therefore lesslikely to support routinely retesting older drivers. Although all groups weresupportive of reexamining the skills of drivers with Alzheimer’s disease,concerns were raised regarding the costs of retesting, discrimination, andthe lack of transportation alternatives. There was slightly less supportacross the three groups for retesting drivers with Parkinson’s disease.Conclusions: Findings from this study have implications for state andnational policy regarding retesting of drivers with Alzheimer’s disease.

P2-254 AN EDUCATIONAL MEMORY COURSE FORPATIENTS SUFFERING FROM MILD COGNITIVEIMPAIRMENT OR MILD DEMENTIA

Jytte Dock, Birgitte Bo Andersen, Gunhild Waldemar, CopenhagenUniversity Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Contacte-mail: jytte.dock@rh.regionh.dk

Background: Nowadays persons suffering from dementia tend to be di-agnosed earlier in order to get a treatment that can improve their cognitivesymptoms and functional status. On demand from these patients and theircaregivers a patient course was established and carried out as a pilot studyin the Memory Disorder Clinic in Copenhagen. The aim of the programmewas to teach patients about the disease and to provide them with tools inorder to give them better options for managing memory problems in dailylife and to improve their quality of life. Methods: The programme wasdesigned as a structured learning programme based on cognitive therapy.During the year 2006 in total 20 patients fulfilled a three month educationalprogramme containing modules of guidelines and advice for managingmemory problems. The participants answered WHO’s short well-beinginquiry and a questionnaire with questions about quality of life, functioningand self esteem before and after they participated in the course. Results:When the scores of all the participants were summarized they showed atendency to a higher score after having participated in the programme,meaning that they felt better off and experienced a slight progress in qualityof life. This is even more noteworthy as the slight progress in well-being

etc. was contrasted by a falling MMSE. Conclusions: It seems that we candraw the conclusion that running educational memory programmes for thepatients with MCI or mild dementia facilitates living with dementia andmake them feel better. Having done courses like these during several yearswe hypothesize that some of the positive effect comes from the relationshipthey build up as counterparts. They enjoy talking and discussing with eachother so much, that they are often unwilling to stop, when the educationalprogramme stops after 3 months.

P2-255 HOW GENDER INFLUENCES USE OFCOMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES IN PERSONSWITH DEMENTIA

Dorothy A. Forbes1, S. Lynn Jansen1, Maureen Markle-Reid2,Pamela Hawranik3, Debra Morgan4, Sandra Henderson2,Beverly Leipert1, Shelley Peacock5, Dawn Kingston2, 1University ofWestern Ontario, London, ON, Canada; 2McMaster University,Hamilton, ON, Canada; 3University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB,Canada; 4University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada;5Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science & Technology, Saskatoon,SK, Canada. Contact e-mail: dforbes6@uwo.ca

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the differencesbetween Canadian men and women with dementia in their use of commu-nity-based services, unmet home care needs, and their perceptions of theavailability and quality of health services. Methods: The cross-sectionalsurvey design used data from the 2003 Canadian Community HealthSurvey Cycle 2.1 (N � 467: males � 247; females � 220). Variables ofinterest were based on the Andersen and Newman model (1973; Andersen,1995). The predisposing variables included age and gender, and the en-abling variables included education, income, living arrangement, and rural/urban. The need variables included presence of dementia, restriction ofactivities, need for help with everyday activities, and health status. Thedependent variables included hospitalization, use of home care, consulta-tions with health professionals, and availability and quality of communityhealth services. Results: The findings revealed that only 31% of personswith dementia received publicly funded home care. This is surprising giventhat all respondents were diagnosed with dementia, 42% were over the ageof 80, the majority reported needing help with activities of daily living, andnearly half had difficulty dealing with an unknown person. A large percent(41%) rated the availability of community health care services as fair topoor and one-quarter rated the quality of care as fair. Women with demen-tia reported better health yet received more personal care assistance fromfamily members and from home care. As well, their caregivers (often theirhusbands) were more likely to receive respite services. Men with dementia,on the other hand, reported lower overall health status. This implies thattheir caregivers (often their wives) were providing more care and receivingless informal and formal support. Thus, those caring for men with dementiamay be particularly vulnerable to negative health outcomes. Conclusions:Home care program planners, assessors, and health care providers shouldacknowledge the vulnerability of these caregivers, who are currently sup-plying up to 90% of the care provided in the home, and ensure that theyreceive the support services they require to prevent the need for prematureinstitutionalization of the person with dementia or their caregiver.

P2-256 REPORTED DRIVING STATUS IN PATIENTSWITH MILD ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE:CORRELATION BETWEEN PATIENT ANDCAREGIVER STATEMENTS

Asmus Vogel1, Frans B. Waldorff1,2, Dorthe V. Buss1,Ane Eckermann1, Gunhild Waldemar1, 1Memory Disorders ResearchGroup, Dept. of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen UniversityHospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; 2Research Unit and Dept. of GeneralPractice, Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen University,Copenhagen, Denmark. Contact e-mail: asmus.vogel@rh.regionh.dk

T446 Poster Presentations P2: