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Joan O'Donnell

Dr Joan O’Donnell

Occupational Therapist, Occupational Therapy Driver Assessor; Honorary Lecturer, University of Sydney; Lecturer, University of Notre Dame; Director, Driver Health
Joan O’Donnell is a registered occupational therapist and qualified Occupational Therapy Driver Assessor. Joan works part-time as an academic/lecturer in occupational therapy at The University of Notre Dame Australia and is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Joan is a Director of the Institute of Driver Health P/L. Joan has a M.Sc(Med.) from The University of Sydney and a PhD from Macquarie University following research focussed on function after cerebrovascular surgery. Joan is currently involved in research including an investigation of clinical cognitive assessments to predict fitness to drive (FTD), evidence of poor driving outcomes for drivers with medical conditions, driving after spinal surgery, training older drivers to use vehicle assistive technology (MOVETech RCT), and FTD prediction based on time duration to perform a cognitive assessment.

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Rethinking fitness to drive: Evidence gaps and GP red flags

Re-examine how you assess medical fitness to drive with driving expert Dr Joan O’Donnell, as she unpacks blind spots in cognitive screening, red flags and driving-cessation conversations.

By Dr Joan O’Donnell
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New Brain Health Guidelines – What GPs Can Do

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Scientia Prof Kaarin Anstey

Psychologist; Director, UNSW Ageing Futures Institute; ARC Laureate Fellow; Senior Principal Research Scientist, NeuRA

Scientia Prof Kaarin Anstey translates the WHO's updated 2026 dementia risk-reduction guidelines changes into concrete actions for opportunistic risk assessment and targeted advice in everyday general practice.

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