Improving Older People's Lives Through Digital Technology and Practices.

The Aging and Technology special issue showcases twelve papers spanning a range and diversity of international scholarly research within the field of ageing and technology. The collection of papers demonstrates the positive impact technology can have on the lives of older people including improving cognitive performance, physical and mental health and people's daily activities and practices. There are still barriers to use, including psychological issues of motivation, attitudes, privacy and trust and social issues involving learning to use the technology.

Older People's External Residential Assessment Tool (OPERAT): a complementary participatory and metric approach to the development of an observational environmental measure.

Background: The potential for environmental interventions to improve health and wellbeing has assumed particular importance in the face of unprecedented population ageing. However, presently observational environmental assessment tools are unsuitable for 'all ages'. This article describes the development of the Older People's External Residential Assessment Tool (OPERAT).

Examining the process of driving cessation in later life.

Driving cessation for many older people is associated with a poorer quality of life and can lead to health problems such as depression. This paper aims to reveal the process of giving-up driving, examining in particular triggers for giving-up driving, how information on alternative modes of transport is sought and how new transport and travel behaviour is integrated into older people's lives. It examines the challenges faced and how these are overcome and what impact the process has on self-reported quality of life, as articulated by the participants themselves.

Public attitudes towards motorcyclists' safety: a qualitative study from the United Kingdom.

The aim of the reported research was to examine the perceptions of road user safety amongst different road users and examine the link between attitudes, empathy and skill in motorcycle safety behaviour. Motorcyclists were perceived by the study participants, members of the public at four different locations at the UK (including motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists), as a group be at a high risk of accidents on the road. This was due to perceived behavioural characteristics of motorcyclists--who were viewed as 'thrill seekers'--as well as observed behaviours on the road.

Equine road user safety: public attitudes, understandings and beliefs from a qualitative study in the United Kingdom.

Horse riders represent a significant group of vulnerable road user and are involved in a number of accidents and near misses on the road. Despite this horse riders have received little attention both in terms of academic research and transport policy. Based on literature on vulnerable road user safety, including attitudes to road user safety and behaviour of drivers and their relationship with cyclists and motorcyclists, this paper examines the attitudes and reported behaviour of drivers and horse riders.

Exploring older drivers' perceptions of driving.

This research uses grounded theory to assess the driving needs of 29 older car drivers using four data collection techniques (two waves of focus groups, an interview and a driver diary). Findings suggest that older drivers view themselves as having better driving skills and attitude towards driving compared to when they were younger and compared to other drivers. In addition, they have a good ability to adapt to their changing physiology.

Workforce planning and education: mapping competencies, skills and standards in mental health.

This paper aims to identify and critically analyse the provision and commissioning of relevant training for multidisciplinary mental health practitioners in the South West region of England. Data were collected from 45 education and training providers across the region. A total of 132 courses were examined through analysis of a questionnaire and a further 82 courses were studied in more depth through interviews and focus groups, alongside a textual analysis of course documents.