Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1989

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Nursing

Major Professor

Mildred M. Fenske

Committee Members

Sandra Thomas, John Jozwiak

Abstract

A nonexperimental, descriptive correlational study was conducted to describe and gain insight into the following question: How seriously does the anticipatory and actual loss of driving privileges impact on the lifestyle of older persons? Kuypers' and Bengtson's "Social Reconstruction Model" (1973) and Orem's "Self-Care Deficit Model" (1985) formed the theoretical framework for this study. An investigator-developed interview schedule served as the instrument for data collection. The volunteer or convenience sample comprised 12 men and women between 60 and 95 years of age who still drove and 11 exdrivers. Subjects were recruited from one senior center and one retirement apartment complex in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. The investigator conducted a 20 minute interview with each volunteer. Data from the study were analyzed using qualitative methods and descriptive statistics. While no correlation was observed between ease of performing five common categories of activities (i.e., outings from residence for health care, sustenance, entertainment, social and church) and the importance of the activities, exdrivers generally found activities to be less important and harder to perform than drivers. In contrast, a strong correlation existed for drivers. Substantive negative psychological effects were V observed from a thematic analysis of qualitative answers as well as from the numeric rating scale responses. Numeric data showing relatively large fluctuations about the mean indicate a wide range of perceived impacts. Thus, consideration of individual circumstances will be important when planning nursing interactions with this clientele.

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