Putting the “OT” in OT-DRIVE

Support occupational therapy practitioners to focus on what clients require to perform their daily tasks and meet social needs.

Address functional deficits so clients can return to their lives and do the everyday tasks they need and want to do—ADLs and IADLs—the “bread and butter” of occupational therapy.

One of the barriers to practitioners addressing driving and community mobility is confidence and competence. Avoid this barrier by realizing that:

• You can competently make recommendations about driving and community mobility risk,
• You understand that a recommendation may rightly include the need for more information following a period of recovery, additional treatment intervention and/or performance data from an occupational therapy comprehensive driving evaluation.
• You can enhance confidence by focusing on the indicators for which a client may require the expertise of a specialist in driving rehabilitation.

This illustration describes and supports the clinical judgment of occupational therapy practitioners for determining older adults’ risk factors based on evidence from observing occupational performance, as well as objectives for intervention.