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In the next 20 years, the population of people age 65 and older is expected to reach 70 million. Many of these will be drivers. In fact, right now, there are about 30 million licensed drivers age 65 or older.

People under age 75 have relatively low crash involvement. However, after age 75, this changes because these drivers may have health conditions or take medications that negatively affect their driving abilities, and this can put them and other road users at risk.

These drivers may not be aware of these changes, or they may not be willing to admit them – to themselves or to others – including family members. Or in the case of people with cognitive impairments like dementia; they don’t necessarily have the insight to recognize poor performance.

Many family members or caregivers wonder what they should do if they think a loved one’s driving skills have diminished. And that’s the dilemma. Family members don’t know how to assess their loved one’s driving abilities. They dread approaching an older loved one to discuss whether he or she needs to modify his or her driving habits or even stop driving.

However, older drivers and their loved ones and caregivers need to take a realistic, ongoing inventory of the older driver’s skills and openly discuss them. Family members need to remember one very important thing: many older drivers look at driving as a form of independence. Bringing up the subject of their driving abilities can make some drivers defensive, angry, hurt, or withdrawn. Be prepared with observations and questions, listen with an open mind, and be prepared to offer possible transportation alternatives.

If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you might need to talk about driving with an older driver:

• Does he or she get lost on routes that should be familiar?
• Have you noticed new dents, scratches, or other damage to his or her vehicle?
• Has he or she been warned by a police officer, about poor driving performance, or received a ticket for a driving violation
• Has he or she experienced a near miss or crash recently?
• Has his or her doctor advised him or her to limit or stop driving due to a health reason?
• Is he or she overwhelmed by signs, signals, road markings, and everything else he or she needs to focus on when driving?
• Does he or she take any medication that might affect his or her capacity to drive safely?
• Does he or she stop inappropriately and/or drive too slowly, preventing the safe flow of traffic?
• Does he or she suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, glaucoma, cataracts, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease,diabetes, or other illnesses that may affect his or her driving skills?

If you answered “yes” to any of the previous questions about an older driver, it is important to have caring, respectful, and non-confrontational conversations about his or her safety, as well as the safety of others on the road. Show genuine concern and understanding, and offer viable alternatives that will not injure the older driver’s self-respect and sense of independence. You might also consider taking a ride with an older driver to observe his or her driving skills, or encourage him or her to get a vision and hearing evaluation, or to enroll in a older driver safety class. You can also discuss your concerns with your loved one’s physician, and ask for recommendations.

The good news is that depending on the severity of the problem, older drivers may be able to adjust their driving habits to increase their safety. For example, they may limit driving to daylight hours and good weather, or avoid highways and high traffic areas.

Information from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Your Older Family Member May Need Help

For many Americans, the Holiday season is one of the few times during the year that adults and their older loved ones spend quality time together. The Holidays may be a time when families face and discuss the difficult decisions about finding care for their older relative. The Eldercare Locator has produced a guide of “10 warning signs” to help families and older Americans determine if help is needed. Any one of the behaviors listed may or may not indicate that an action should be taken and your family member’s physician should be kept informed of physical or psychological behavior changes.

Has your family member:

• Changed eating habits within the last year resulting in weight loss, having no appetite, or missed meals?
• Neglected personal hygiene resulting in wearing dirty clothes, body odor, bad breath, neglected nails and teeth, sores on the skin?
• Neglected their home so it is not as clean or sanitary as you remember growing up?
• Exhibited inappropriate behavior by being unusually loud or quiet, paranoid, agitated, making phone calls at all hours?
• Changed relationship patterns such that friends and neighbors have expressed concerns?
• Had physical problems such as burns or injury marks resulting from general weakness, forgetfulness, or possible misuse of alcohol or prescribed medications?
• Decreased or stopped participating in activities that were previously important to them such as bridge or a book club, dining with friends, or attending religious services?
• Exhibited forgetfulness resulting in unopened mail, piling newspapers, not filling their prescriptions, or missed appointments?
• Mishandled finances such as not paying bills, losing money, paying bills twice or more, or hiding money?
• Made unusual purchases such as buying more than one magazine subscription of the same magazine, entered an unusual amount of contests, increased usage of purchasing from television advertisements?

Through the Eldercare Locator, individuals and their families can get information on services available through the state and area agencies on aging and local aging service providers.

To access services, contact the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 or through the Web site at http://www.eldercare.gov.

Psychological Benefits of Art Therapy

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“Beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities…” ~ Plato As parents, when our child falls ill, or  is prone to a disorder or a discomfort; we are diligent to…      READ MORE: Psychological Benefits of Art Therapy

Glen Campbell walked onstage at the Grammys earlier this month looking confident, but not exactly like the Glen Campbell I had seen performing before. Something about his stance – the way he held his shoulders – seemed familiar to me. And then the camera panned toward his eyes: That was it. A sparkle was gone. Something was flatter, more far away. Distant.

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