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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Disability Studies is the property of Canadian Disability Studies Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

BACKGROUND: With the recent funding changes in health care services, more seniors with dementia are cared for in their homes and the nature of their condition puts them at higher risk for accidents and injuries. PURPOSE: The Safety Assessment Scale (SAS) was developed for use by community healthcare providers to evaluate and lower the risk of accidents, provide recommendations to family caregivers and enhance case management. Method. The scale was assessed in terms of the reliability as well as content, criterion and construct validity with 176 community-residing people with dementia in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. The Safety Assessment Scale was validated in French and English. RESULTS: The SAS demonstrated an excellent test-retest (ICC=.91) and inter-rater (ICC=.88) reliability. Results for validity were also extremely good. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The scale is available in French and English. The short version of the SAS is a screening tool and the longer version provides an in-depth evaluation of safety and intervention planning. The SAS can be used by a variety of health care professionals who work with individuals who have dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory cross-sectional study examined adjustment over time of three groups of seniors with serious mental illnesses (N=33), who were transferred from a psychiatric hospital to a community residential facility from 1995-1998. The study participants had lived in the community for 6-41 months. Outcomes included measures of global, social, cognitive and ADL functioning, quality of life and rehospitalizations. Analyses revealed no significant deterioration in symptomatology, cognitive and ADL functioning between groups and a significant change in social functioning. Five participants were readmitted for short hospitalizations. Participants in all groups expressed a positive quality of life in their current community residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary objective : To investigate the experiences of individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury, their families and the physicians and health professionals involved, from the critical care episodes and subsequent rehabilitation. Research design : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who had sustained a TBI ( n ?=?8) and their families ( n ?=?8) as well as with the health professionals (or service providers) ( n ?=?22) and physicians ( n ?=?9) who provided them care. Main outcomes and results : Results revealed the difficulties encountered by the different people involved, from the standpoint of the readjustment of the individual with the TBI and their family, the relationships among the various actors and the continuity of care. Conclusions : This study brings to light the importance of including the family and the person with a TBI in the care process by calling for their participation and by setting up suitable structures that prioritize a meaningful partnership among the key individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a deinstitutionalization movement has been occurring in Canadian psychiatric institutions. Occupational therapists, experts in evaluating occupational performance, are key contributors to the selection of appropriate community housing environments. This study describes the global functioning, performance in activities of daily living, social behavior, cognitive status, and quality of life of 33 older adults with a severe and chronic mental illness, who were transferred from a psychiatric hospital to community facilities between 1995 and 1998. Evaluations were repeated five times, twice before discharge and three times after the transfer. Participants demonstrated stability in their global, social and ADL functioning over time. In general, participants required occasional intervention for management of social behaviors, moderate assistance in activities of daily living, and were highly satisfied with their community accommodation. The transfer to community settings did not lead to a significant deterioration in the participants'levels of global functioning and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 208 older drivers completed a naturalistic on-road driving task (eDOS) • Compared driving patterns during the eDOS and real-world driving (RWD) trips. • Sub-trips of home-to-first-destination during the eDOS resembled RWD trips that started from home. • Potential to use eDOS to assess at-risk older drivers for modified (local area) licences. This study compared older drivers' driving patterns during a naturalistic on-road driving task (i.e., eDOS driving task) with their real-world driving from the preceding four-month period. Two hundred and eight participants (Male: 68.8%; Mean age = 81.5 years, SD = 3.3 years) completed the eDOS driving task in their own vehicle which commenced from their home and followed a self-selected route. Participants' driving patterns were collected via an in-car recording device that was installed in their vehicle. This study examined the sub-trip from participants' homes to their first destination during the eDOS driving task. The median sub-trip distance was 4.4 km (Q1 = 2.8, Q3 = 6.4). Across the four-month period of real-world driving, participants completed a median of 151 driving trips from their home (Q1 = 103.0, Q3 = 202.7), with a median trip distance of 2.7 km (Q1 = 1.1, Q3 = 5.8). Most participants' eDOS driving task trip distance was classified as representative of their real-world driving trip distances (95.2%). By mapping GPS coordinates for driving pattern data with road types and roadways, most eDOS driving task trips included roadways that were actively used during their real-world driving (85.0%). During the preceding four-month period of real-world driving, most participants had visited the first nominated destination during the eDOS driving task at least once per month (77.4%). Given the increasing international interest and use of modified (local area) licences, these findings suggest that naturalistic on-road driving tasks could be used by licensing authorities to assess potentially at-risk older drivers within their own driving environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]