Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Driving Miss Daisy: Should Our Hospice Patients Be Driving? (512)

2012; Elsevier BV; Volume: 43; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.12.157

1873-6513

Karen L. Cross, Shannon Sheek,

Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues

1.Gain knowledge about current literature regarding the effect of various medications and diseases on patient's driving ability2.Learn how to screen patients for impaired driving abilities and what resources are available for both the health care providers and their patients who are not able to drive3.Know a health care professional's legal and ethical responsibilities to assess their patients for physical or mental impairments that might adversely affect driving abilities. Participants will also learn about their state's mandatory reporting laws regarding impaired drivers. How often is a hospice patient with advanced disease on multiple medications still driving? These patients are often described as getting weaker and intermittently confused. Your hospice case manager may say, “ …and he's still driving so if you see an old red pickup in the vicinity of Taylorsville, get off the road!” Many IDT members express their concern because this patient is not the team's only patient whose driving ability is questionable. Team members are often frustrated with the uncertainty of what to do with these patients as they balance their patient's best interests and public safety. The AMA has a published opinion regarding physicians’ responsibility to recognize impairments in patients’ driving ability and to report them to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Some states mandate reporting of unsafe drivers and every physician should know their local laws. This session will be given by both a practicing hospice physician and an occupational therapist/driving rehabilitation specialist. We will review the current literature on the effect of medications and diseases on driving ability. We will demonstrate screening tests that can easily be done in the patient's home by any of the team members. We will provide the participant with information on their state's laws regarding their responsibilities to report unsafe drivers, screening questionnaires, information about community resources to do formal evaluations of driving abilities, and information for patients and family members who are faced with the loss of their driving privileges.