Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health

Background:

• Individuals with dementia and their carers often lack adequate resources for managing driving cessation.
• The Driving and Dementia Roadmap is an online platform designed to offer knowledge, tools, and support for this process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a national radio advertisement campaign in increasing the utilization of the Driving and Dementia Roadmap.

Main Methods:

• A national radio ad campaign was implemented across 5 Canadian provinces in January 2024.
• User data (total users, new users, return users, engaged sessions) from the Driving and Dementia Roadmap were collected and compared between regions exposed to the ads (coverage) and those not exposed (non-coverage) before and during the campaign.
• Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon-Signed Rank tests and Mann-Whitney U tests to compare pre-post and between-region outcomes.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in total users, new users, return users, and engaged sessions were observed in both coverage and non-coverage regions during the broadcast period.
• The increase in total users, new users, and engaged sessions was significantly greater in coverage regions compared to non-coverage regions.
• The monthly increase in total users was four-fold larger in coverage regions than in non-coverage regions.

Conclusions:

• The national radio ad campaign effectively boosted engagement with the Driving and Dementia Roadmap.
• Increased access to the platform's resources can better support individuals with dementia and their carers in managing driving cessation.