Post and Whitehouse suggest that persons diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease may be able to continue driving for three years after the initial diagnosis. 7 Other experts feel that even early in the disease, there can be difficulty attending to multiple visual sources of input. Such a deficit in attending to and inhibiting appropriate stimuli could place even a mildly demented individual at risk as a driver. These assessments are not designed to predict crash risk. Rather, they are designed to directly measure the effect of specific cognitive or physical deficits on driving skills.
Many metropolitan areas have such programs.
Older driver rehabilitation. Typically, OT driver rehabilitation for the elderly consists of four to 16 hours of treatment. This is a systematic program of therapy specifically designed to decrease a person's driving risk. It is only offered to those who demonstrate a good prognosis for resuming independent driving. The physician should consider counseling the partner of a slightly impaired older driver to continue or resume an equal share of the driving, with the patient's permission.