2010 steers DEER Center in the right direction
Psychology professor Rick Backs is one step closer to addressing a critical need for increasing driver safety among older drivers and drivers with attention disorders.
The CMU Center for Driving Evaluation,
Education, and Research (DEER) will provide clinical resources to research and evaluate cognitive fitness for driving. It also will offer educational services to improve the safety of older drivers and drivers with attention
disorders, thereby reducing the number of fatal crashes involving these two groups.
This interdisciplinary collaboration between the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences and The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions is a response to an aging population that will affect driving safety throughout the state and nation.
“This will be a state-of-the-art facility and the first of its kind in central and northern Michigan,” Backs said. “The clinical and educational services will benefit older drivers and those with attention disorders at a regional level, and our research will impact people on a national level.”
Center facilitates research
and partnerships
The DEER Center will provide clinical and research opportunities for CMU faculty members and students, as well as establish community and university partnerships to improve driving safety throughout the state.
“Students from many disciplines will be
involved in the evaluation and research aspects of this center,” Backs said. “We also have to establish ourselves in the community and establish our referral network of physicians, mental health professionals, and those in other related fields.”
Research already has begun on how driver attention changes as people age, especially adults 65 years of age and older.
Backs and research scientist and psychology faculty member Nick Cassavaugh also are planning to develop an attention test that will assess such functions as visual scanning, flexibility of attention, and sustained attention to diagnose specific attention deficits.
Most of the DEER Center’s initial two-year operating costs will be covered by a $214,163 CMU 2010 grant. Backs still is seeking funding for special equipment including an advanced driving simulator, which is the final step in enabling the center to open its doors.•
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