When Should Dementia Drivers Stop Driving?
When should you stop a family member from driving if you feel they’re becoming too forgetful and have poor judgment and reaction time? How does it become evident that dementia or Alzheimer’s is causing someone to be a danger to themselves and others?
These aren’t easy decisions for the family member and the person with signs of dementia. We encountered these problems with my parents and my husband’s father. (His mother never learned to drive.) Fortunately my father recognized that he shouldn’t be driving, so stopped of his own accord.
Researchers at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a training program for health care providers that posssibly will help them recognize unsafe drivers with dementia and learn how to discourage them from driving. This latter part isn’t always easy.
This difficult situation is one that’s handled differently by laws in various states. Even though a driving test may be required, that driver may be able to “pull themselves together” long enough to pass the test. Often eyesight becomes a problem and inability to pass the eye test results in a license not being renewed.
More on this topic also is found at Alzheimer’s Daily News.
Tags: Alzheimers, Alzheimers+Daily+News, Alzheimers+Disease, Alzheimers+driving, caregivers, Caregiving, dementiaRelated Stories
POSTED IN: General, Online Resources, Personal Caregiving Experiences, Safety
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