Assistive technology to develop skills needed for driving: The DriveFocusTM app

Jenny Gribbin, Occupational Therapy Driver Assessor, Driving Well Occupational Therapy, Brisbane

Learning to drive with a physical/psychosocial disability, returning to driving after an accident, and maintaining driving through ageing are all rated as top priority goals for people in these situations. With the roll-out of the NDIS, exploring the feasibility of learning to drive has become a possibility for many young Australians on the autism spectrum or with other psychosocial disabilities.

Historically, there haven’t been many strategies or tools available to optimise this population’s chances of being successful with their goal, other than driving lessons. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I connected with Dr Miriam Monahan from the Driver Rehabilitation Institute in California and learned about her Potential to Drive approach and the DriveFocusTM app, which she co-founded. Together, we facilitated Potential to Drive workshops for driving occupational therapists and driving instructors, webinars for generalist occupational therapists, AHAs and support workers, and collaborated to bring the DriveFocus app to Australia.

The tablet-based DriveFocus app teaches visual search and reactiontime skills through interactive videos. Driving occupational therapists working with clients with cognitive, physical and psychosocial disability frequently find visual search skills are compromised – they “look but don’t see”. DriveFocus is designed to develop skills in the information-processing cycle, which explains the complexities of the driving task – a constant repeating cycle of vision, processing/ decision-making, motor response. In the DriveFocus app, users learn to identify, prioritise and react to 11 categories of critical items (including give-way signs, traffic lights, pedestrians and brake lights) through tapping on items in videos from a driver’s perspective.

About the DriveFocusTM app

• A university study identified that six, one-hour sessions of

DriveFocus significantly reduced driving errors among learner drivers (Alvarez et al., 2018). The subjects also rated DriveFocus as valuable for improving their driving skills. • Users watch high-definition videos from a driver’s perspective, and tap on critical items as quickly as possible while prioritising the correct order. • The American app has tours of several cities, with a Brisbane tour available on Android and iPad versions, and a Melbourne tour available on Android. The tours include seven drives that level up and can be practised repeatedly. • The user’s score is presented at the end of each practice, and

Android users can email the results to their occupational therapist. • The app costs about $20AUD, a once-off fee that includes access to all tours. There is no renewal fee or ongoing membership fee. • There are other studies currently taking place in the USA and

Canada to examine the efficacy of DriveFocus with populations such as people who have had strokes, people with autism, and combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Award-winning

DriveFocus won the Technology category of the 2021 Australian Road Safety Foundation Awards and was a finalist for Best Assistive Technology Product of the 2022 Australian Disability Services Awards (held in November 2022).

About the author

Jenny Gribbin is an occupational therapy driver assessor in Brisbane. She founded her business Driving Well Occupational Therapy in 2017, and has a small team working with clients with driving and vehicle modification needs across the lifespan. Contact details: jenny@drivingwell.com.au

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