November 07, 2023
A team of researchers from Baycrest, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) has been awarded the 2023 CIHR Institute of Aging Betty Havens Prize for Knowledge Mobilization in Aging for their work on the
Driving and Dementia Roadmap.
The development of the Driving and Dementia Roadmap was led by Dr. Gary Naglie Vice-President, Medical Services & Chief of Staff at Baycrest, and Dr. Mark Rapoport, Psychiatrist and Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook. Another key member of the team is Dr. Elaine Stasiulis, Research Associate at Baycrest.
The award honours Betty Havens, a leading gerontologist who was committed to improving the lives of seniors with notable achievements in health services research on the aging process. This prize recognizes an individual, team or organization that has advanced the mobilization of research in aging at a local or regional level.
The Driving and Dementia Roadmap is a first-of-its-kind, free, online resource launched across Canada to empower older adults living with dementia to make informed decisions about when to stop driving. Launched in 2022, this resource brings together information, videos, worksheets and other materials to help navigate the decision in a way that honours the individual while involving their family or close community.
“Among many other topics, the Driving and Dementia Roadmap helps users understand how dementia can impact driving; identify when it becomes unsafe for individuals living with dementia to drive; and adjust to life without driving once the decision has been made,” says Dr. Naglie.
The Driving and Dementia Roadmap was developed by CCNA’s Team 16, led by Drs. Naglie and Rapoport with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and in partnership with the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Team 16 is a Canada-wide research team comprised of academics and clinicians focused on creating interventions and developing knowledge to support people with dementia through the driving cessation process. Additional funding and developmental support came from the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) and the Ontario Ministry of Health Academic Health Sciences Centres Alternative Funding Plan Innovation Fund.