Driving Advice - Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
Thursday, December 6th, 2007Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers - Driving Advice
Audio File: Help for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other causes of dementia are driving an average of ten months longer than their caregivers think is safe. Brian Osuch has more with help for caregivers.
Newsbreak, I’m Brian Osuch. New research by The Hartford Financial Service Group in conjunction with the MIT Age Lab and Boston University helped to develop “At the Crossroads,†a new booklet designed to help Alzheimer caregivers make the difficult decision on when their loved one should stop driving. Jodi Olshevski is a corporate gerontologist with The Hartford.
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(Olshevski) The booklet includes all kinds of helpful information in terms of the issues of dementia and driving, warning signs for them to look for. We also have a conversation planner, how can the caregiver have a good conversation about not driving. Lisa D’Ambrosio, a research scientist at MIT, says the goal is to help caregivers gradually move the person from driver to passenger.
(D’Ambrosio) What we encourage caregivers to do, is actually get in the car and observe driving of their loved one to keep track of these warning signs and look for patterns or changes in patterns that signal the driving has become a problem. To order or download your free copy, visit Thehartford.com/alzheimers. That’s Newsbreak from The Hartford, I’m Brian Osuch.
