Can your loved one still drive following a dementia diagnosis?

As soon as someone who drives receives a diagnosis of dementia, they need to tell the DVLA. Of course if someone in your life has to do this, they may be concerned that they will have to stop driving, but this will not necessarily be the case. If you have received a recent dementia diagnosis yourself, the DVLA will ask your permission to obtain medical records from your GP, and an assessment will then be made by a specialist.

During this process, the person with dementia might also be required to undertake a test to see if they are still fit to drive. However, it will not be as stringent as a driving test, and it gives some leeway for the idiosyncrasies that drivers develop. The only purpose of this test is to see if the person can still drive safely. Some people receiving home care in Gloucester have had doctors advise that they stop driving with immediate effect. The insurance company will also need to be told about the diagnosis, as it could invalidate their policy.

If you have concerns about the driving of your loved one with dementia, signs to look out for include irritability or a lack of confidence out on the road. Your loved one may lose their way on previously well-known roads, or lurch across the road lines. Others could drive too fast or slow for the conditions, while some drivers might not be able to gauge the size of spaces. Road maintenance might confuse them, and they could have a greater fear of crashing. These factors might make it increasingly unsafe to be driven by someone with dementia.

These behaviours can be quite common among drivers with dementia, and if the time is right, it might lead someone to seek home care in Gloucester. This is because someone may not wish to lose their mobility and independence even after they have ceased to drive, and certainly, home care in Gloucester assists people to live the lives they want to as much as possible.

A person with dementia may also wish to know for themselves if they are still fit to continue driving. While they may have been given the all clear, they might be aware that the illness is progressing, and as they lose ability, they may put themselves forward for another assessment by the DVLA.

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Editor’s Note: Bramble Home Care (http://www.bramblehomecare.co.uk/) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.