Driving & Community Mobility

Accessing a patient is very important especially when it has to do with the most complicated IADL, driving.  Majority of the patients that are sent to a driving training program are told that they cannot drive anymore.  As occupational therapists, our job is to help individuals gain their quality of life back as best we can.  Therefore, we must think outside of the box and think of what they need when it comes to driving.  The three purposes of a driving program are assess individuals for safety and potential to drive, assess for equipment, and train individuals in the use of AE and/or compensation techniques for driving.  Having a basic knowledge on common diagnoses is also very important.  Common diagnoses that are seen in driving programs are stroke, TBI, SCI, amputations, alzheimers, MS, CP, and visual impairments.  Driving is a multi-task, multi-stimulus IADL.  An individual must be able to shift attention from one task to another and be able to come back to the correct point of sequence in the task.  There are so many things that you are doing while your driving and one needs many skills intact to do it safely.  Occupational therapist identify interventions to driving and community mobility and safety.  Interventions can range from driving education held in a group course all the way to behind the wheel assessment with an individual.  Behind the wheel training be used to vehicle control skills and/or train patients how to use adaptive equipment.