Pedestrian Safety Training Program for Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Case Study

Anyone of any age can be a victim of a traffic accident as a pedestrian, but the vast majority of the victims are older adults. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effectiveness of a case study on a traffic safety pedestrian education program for the community-dwelling older adults to examine the effectiveness of an education program for preventing traffic accidents. The participants in the program were 891 adults, all of them were members of senior welfare centers located in their residential area. The effectiveness of the program was assessed by comparing changes before and after program participation in four domains; traffic safety knowledge, traffic sign knowledge, traffic safety behavior, and subjective traffic safety competence. The findings showed that the educational program had a positive effect in all of four domains. Comparing the characteristics of the participants, the effect was more pronounced for women, people with low education or living standards, and the older. Based on the findings, the study advocates that the safe walking education programs should be continuously implemented to enhance the traffic safety capabilities of the older adults. The researchers also recommend tailoring education and behavior-based training to the specific characteristics of each older adult.