Back to Articles
A Collaborative Occupational Therapy–Instructor Model for Driving Evaluation of Persons with Disabilities

Sensors

ENRICHED

Description

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal.

Summary

This research evaluates a structured comprehensive driving evaluation model in Korea designed to standardize fitness-to-drive assessments for persons with disabilities. The study emphasizes interprofessional collaboration between occupational therapists and driving instructors to replace subjective, experiential judgments with evidence-based functional assessments. While the research addresses safety in the context of transport and physical rehabilitation, it does not discuss artificial intelligence, frontier models, or catastrophic AI risks. Consequently, the paper lacks relevance to the fields of AI governance, alignment, or safety policy.

Body

14 pages, 297 KB   Open AccessArticle A Collaborative Occupational Therapy–Instructor Model for Driving Evaluation of Persons with Disabilities by Seongwon Kim, Seunghui Nina Jeong, Minye Jung, Yunjeong Eom, Jungran Kim, Meng-en Yang and Junghun Aj Kim Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(5), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23050566 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2026 Abstract (1) Background: Driving enables participation and independence for persons with disabilities; however, Korea lacks standardized driver rehabilitation guidelines and clearly defined occupational therapy roles. Current evaluations at the National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) rely heavily on instructors’ experiential judgment, resulting in inconsistent fitness-to-drive decisions. [...] Read more. (1) Background: Driving enables participation and independence for persons with disabilities; however, Korea lacks standardized driver rehabilitation guidelines and clearly defined occupational therapy roles. Current evaluations at the National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) rely heavily on instructors’ experiential judgment, resulting in inconsistent fitness-to-drive decisions. This study developed and field-tested a comprehensive driving evaluation (CDE) tailored to the Korean service context, integrating structured off-road functional assessment with on-road driving evaluation through a collaborative occupational therapist–driving instructor model. (2) Methods: The off-road assessment was refined through a literature review, an analysis of the ICF Core Set for driving rehabilitation, expert surveys, and a workshop with 10 occupational therapists. The on-road assessment was adapted from international tools and validated by NRC driving instructors and an expert committee. The CDE was field-tested with 30 persons with physical disabilities, cerebral palsy, or auditory disabilities enrolled in the NRC Driving Education Program. Eligibility for independent driving was classified as “eligible” or “doubtful.” (3) Results: The CDE was feasible within existing workflows. Off-road deficits predicted on-road difficulties, and cases with discordant judgments benefited from combined assessment. (4) Conclusions: The CDE offers a structured alternative to experience-based evaluations and supports interprofessional collaboration, providing foundational evidence for standardized driver rehabilitation in Korea. Full article (This article belongs to the Section Health Care Sciences)