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Transportation Solutions for Caregivers: A Starting Point

SOURCE: http://seniortransportation.easterseals.com

Caring for a loved one is often as challenging as it is rewarding and can affect both work and family life. Transportation can be especially taxing and time consuming. According to an AARP survey of family caregivers (1997), eight out of 10 caregivers reported helping with transportation. In a survey on  community transportation by AARP (1997), two thirds of non-drivers who were surveyed reported getting rides from family and friends to get where they need to go.

The difficulties encountered in the area of transportation, such as handling a wheelchair or other assistive device, agitation, and distracting behaviors, may cause some family caregivers to stop transporting their loved ones or only transport them for the most essential appointments. Over time, this can lead to frustration and eventually isolation for both family caregivers and their loved ones.

Family caregivers often rely on trial and error to solve their transportation challenges. This booklet and accompanying video provide tips and safe, creative solutions, devised by both family caregivers and professionals, that are designed to ease transportation challenges.

Although transporting an older loved one who requires physical assistance or has dementia can present a challenge, it doesn’t have to be a struggle. Often, caregivers must try multiple strategies and find that what works today, may not work tomorrow. However, there is almost always a solution and a way to make every car trip easier. Caregivers are also encouraged to seek out other people who are caring for older loved ones through local groups or online. Sometimes the best solutions to challenges are discovered through learning from each other’s experiences.

Read the Contents of the Transportation Solutions Toolkit
(You will be leaving the Elder Options of Texas web site)

• Communication
• Sensitivity
• Preventing Agitation
• Dealing with Agitation
• Transportation Review
• Providing Physical Assistance
• Resources for Caregivers

Tips & Facts

• Americans took more than 10.1 billion trips on public transportation in 2006. This is the highest annual rate in 49 years.
• 83 percent of older Americans agree that public transit provides easy access to the things that they need in everyday life.
• From 1995 through 2006, public transportation ridership increased by 30 percent, a growth rate higher than the 12 percent increase in US population and higher than the 24 percent growth in use of the nation's highways over the same period.
• Public transportation vehicles now use alternative forms of energy such as electricity and compressed natural gas. Using these forms of energy, public transit vehicles produce 95 percent less carbon monoxide, 90 percent less volatile organic compounds, and half as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
• A Harris Interactive survey of Americans age 65 and older indicated that 80 percent regard public transportation as better than driving alone, especially at night.