There are more than 20 million registered vehicles in Australia and an estimated 92 per cent of adult Aussies drive. There are between 386,000 and 487,500 Australians living with dementia and, with an ageing population, that number is rising. But should such a dementia diagnosis mean an automatic termination of a driver’s licence?
Clearly, driving is an important part of life for most adult Australians, so to be faced with the prospect of having that taken away is potentially life changing. But rather than a kneejerk across-the-board suspension of licences, authorities are now starting to look at assessing those diagnosed with dementia individually.
And helping to facilitate those assessments is a new video tool developed by scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ). Psychology researcher Dr Theresa Scott is working alongside people living with dementia to develop that video-based driver safety test.
Read: Study finds dementia clues years before diagnosis
Dr Scott says there are people living with dementia who will be able to drive safely in the earlier stages of the condition. Finding out who those people are and not putting all sufferers in the same category is the aim.
Sufferers, she says, will “get to the stage where their physical and cognitive capacities will decline to such a stage that they’re no longer safe”. Leaving the determination of that stage in the hands of families is fraught with both emotion and, potentially, danger.
Even leaving the decision to GPs is a difficult one – for both doctor and patient.
Read: Forgetfulness or dementia? How much memory loss is normal as you age?
Dr Scott says sometimes individuals with a dementia diagnosis are not tested at all, or are given a pen and paper memory test.
The aim of the video-based assessment tool is to remove the guesswork. According to Dr Scott, the video assessment will be fairer.
“What the test aims to do is to test that person’s ability to predict a traffic incident, so to predict a hazard for example,” Dr Scott says.
“It means that people can continue to drive while they’re safe, they can be tested by their GP and their GP will feel confident to say if they can continue to drive.”
An objective assessment will not only reduce the potential danger to the diagnosed driver and other road-users, but it should also help those affected to accept the results.
Those diagnosed with dementia who are ‘lucky’ enough to have an assessment that allows them to keep driving, at least in the short term, will have the time not just to digest what their diagnosis means for them. It also offers an opportunity to develop contingencies for when they are deemed to be no longer safe drivers.
Read: How to keep it safe when driving on the roads
The test is being fine-tuned with the help of people living with dementia and will incorporate real on-road footage that individuals view and respond to.
Dr Scott says the tool could have wider applications.
“We say that driving safety should look the same no matter what your age or condition so … the test would be certainly suitable for older people as well.”
A $1.3 million federal government grant has been awarded to the project to allow further development. The video assessment tests are expected to be available for use by health professionals within two years.
Have you or someone close to you had to make a decision about driving after a dementia diagnosis? How did you handle it? Would this tool have been useful? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
