The driving and community mobility lecture addressed an area I had little previous knowledge on. Driving is a huge part of people's lives, as it allows for them to be mobile in the community, work, socialize with others, etc. It is an important area for OT to address, as it is an occupation almost everyone engages in. For this reason, when assessing driving ability OTs need to have a skilled eye. In today's lecture, we learned what a typical evaluation consists of: a clinical evaluation and a behind the wheel assessment. During the clinical evaluation, the use of assessments such as the MOCA and the Trailmaking A and B can be an effective way to test visual and motor perception, as well as cognition. The driving assessment gives the OT a good idea of where the problems may lie. As we learned in lecture today, some people simply have difficulty turning their head to check their blind spots. In this case, a helpful intervention for this individual would be to get them larger mirrors so that they do not have to turn their head so much. As an intervention to help a larger population, it may be beneficial to go into clinics with a high prevalence of stroke, TBI, muscular dystrophy, etc. and do screenings or an inservice on driving safety and vehicle modifications.
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