Driving gives us the freedom, flexibility and independence to enjoy our life. Most adults learn how to drive a car in their late teens and will continue to drive well into their senior years. After driving for a number of years, it starts to feel like an automatic activity that we do naturally. However, it does require complex thought processes, quick reactions and hand-eye coordination skills.<\/p>\n
A person living with dementia is likely to experience difficulties with memory, concentration, vision and judgement, which can impact their ability to drive safely, and they may not be able to continue to drive as their condition progresses<\/a>. If you are caring for someone with dementia, the following driving considerations may come in handy.<\/p>\n
A person living with dementia is likely to experience changes in their behaviour and abilities that can occur slowly over time<\/a>. The following are the changes that should be considered in relation to driving.<\/p>\n
It can be difficult to talk to a person with dementia about the concerns that you have about them driving. The following suggestions may help you approach the subject with your loved one in a sensitive and understanding manner:<\/p>\n
When people stop driving, it can become more difficult to get around, and as such, they will sometimes stop venturing out. However, it is extremely important that socialisation such as visiting friends and family, attending events or participating in hobbies is maintained. There are a number of alternatives to driving that your loved one may wish to explore:<\/p>\n
Please be aware that there licensing requirements for drivers with dementia that vary across different states and territories. Get in touch with your local licensing authority to find out more about your legal obligations. In addition, it may be useful to talk to your doctor about your options for driving while living with dementia.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re caring for someone with dementia and would like to know more about our\u00a0Compassionate Touch\u00ae<\/a> or Dementia Live\u00ae<\/a> programs,\u00a0contact Brain Sparks<\/a>\u00a0to find out more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Driving gives us the freedom, flexibility and independence to enjoy our life. Most adults learn how to drive a car in their late teens and will continue to drive well into their senior years. After driving for a number of years, it starts to feel like an automatic activity that we do naturally. However, it […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainsparks.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}