How do occupational therapists treat clients with dementia that still want to drive?
Answer
This is really tough on families. You have to consider a family-centered care perspective, and it can be so difficult. There can be a lot of paranoia about "they are trying to take my car and get my money." I advise families in this situation to disable the vehicles. We have had families just sell the car. However, we have had people call up a car dealership and buy a new car with their credit card over the phone, and it gets delivered to their house. Disabling a vehicle can really hold people off for quite a bit of time. For example, you can take out one of the spark plugs, grind down the grooves on the key, or disconnect the cable to the battery. For somebody with dementia, and we are talking pretty advanced dementia, it is easy enough to hold people off for months by saying, "We are waiting for a part to come in."
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Wendy Stav, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Wendy B. Stav, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, received a BS in occupational therapy from Quinnipiac University and a PhD in occupational therapy from Nova Southeastern University. For more than 20 years, her work has focused on driving and community mobility specific to clinical practice, program development, medical reporting, driver licensing, and assessment predictability. Dr. Stav was named to the AOTA Roster of Fellows in 2009 for her contributions to driving and community mobility practice. Her focus on driving was grounded in her passion for the occupation and the role of community mobility as an occupation enabler. So, in 2015, she transitioned her research line to occupation-based practice and has since developed a practice model, an assessment to measure practice, and completed two occupation-based clinic makeover studies. Dr. Stav recently relocated to St. Louis to serve as the Chair of the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy.
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