Patient engagement Dementia and driving
A person’s ability to get themselves from point A to point B is a central aspect of their autonomy, even if it can be taken for granted. As a person grows older, however, that ability becomes fundamental not only to their independence, but their capacity to continue living their life as they choose.
Maintaining a driver’s licence thus becomes especially important to people as they age, particularly given they have likely been driving for several decades. For people living with dementia, the idea they may have to stop driving can be a very diffi cult one to accept.
‘It’s an identity thing. People see their driver’s license as part of who they are and they believe it’s restricting their freedom if they can’t drive,’ Anne Fairhall, who is on Alzheimer’s Australia’s Victorian Consumer Advisor Committee and whose husband stopped driving due to dementia several years ago, told Good Practice.
Opening or saving files
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