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Driving and Community Mobility


What stood out to me during the lecture on driving and community mobility was how many different client populations could benefit from occupational therapy interventions in this area. Some diagnoses mentioned that are commonly seen by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist were traumatic brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, amputations, Alzheimer’s Disease, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy. Some services provided to clients within this area of driving and community mobility are work hardening, driving rehab, low vision rehab, vestibular rehab, industrial services, and pressure mapping/wheelchair assessment. Adaptive driving programs aim to assess individuals for safety and potential to drive, evaluate persons with disabilities for appropriate adaptive equipment, and to train individuals in use of adaptive equipment and/or compensation techniques for driving. Driving/community mobility is a huge aspect of independence, so this is a very important and powerful area that OTs can address.

One way in which an OT could provide an intervention to a client with a spinal cord injury would be to provide hand controls for their car and have a session dedicated to practicing using them, first in the clinic and then in a vehicle after the client felt comfortable. Another intervention could be for an elderly client with Alzheimer’s Disease. The OT could provide education for the client on their disease progression in order to give them insight into what they should expect to happen/how the disease progresses. They could also provide them with cognitive techniques/exercises in order to increase cognitive reserve, and they could also teach them how to drive more safely such as only driving in familiar areas and avoiding driving out of state in order to decrease the likelihood of getting lost. For someone with vision issues, an OT could recommend a larger rear-view mirror or a dash cloth to reduce glare.

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