A Review of a Major Driver Rehabilitation Centre: A Ten-Year Client Profile

Abstract

French

Driver Rehabilitation Services at Bloorview MacMillan Centre in Toronto provide important assessment and rehabilitation services for persons with various physical, neurological, and medical disabilities. Each year, the programme sees approximately 700 to 800 clients. Since 1985, the earliest year for which records are currently available, the program has seen approximately 7300 clients. The client information filing system consists predominantly of paper reports filed alphabetically by hand. A comprehensive computer database program was implemented in 1996 to organize and analyze client-driver records more efficiently. A systematic random sample consisting of 364 records (5% of the total population) was examined to describe the characteristics of the population within five major study categories: demographics, administration, medical information, visual and perceptual abilities and driving record.

Keywords

Client profile Computerized patient record Driver assessment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Assaf

A.R.

Banspach

S.W.

Lasater

T.M.

Ramsey

Tidwell

R.J.

Carleton

R.A.

(1992). The FP base microcomputer system for managing community health screening and intervention data bases. Public Health Report, 107, 695–700.

Brison

Bosco

(1997). Examining issues related to physicians' duty to report unfit drivers in Ontario. Ontario Medical Review, July/August, 17–22.

Canadian Medical Association: Council on Health Cares Subcommittee on Emergency Medical Services. (1991). Physician's guide to driver examination, (5th ed.). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Medical Association.

Capen

(1994). New court ruling on fitness-to-drive issue will likely carry “considerable weight” across country. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 150, 667.

Fox

G. K.

Bowden

S. C.

Smith

D. S.

(1998). On-road assessment of driving competence after brain impairment: Review of current practice and recommendations for a standardized examination. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 79, 1288–1296.

Handler

B. S.

Patterson

J. B.

(1995). Driving after brain injury. Journal of Rehabilitation, 61, 43–49.

Johnston

(1993). Failure to report driver's medical problems could have serious legal consequences for MD. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 149, 322–323.

Jones

Giddens

Croft

(1983). Assessment and training of brain-damaged drivers. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 37, 754–760.

Klavora

Young

Heslegrave

R.J.

(1998). Driver information database at the Driver Rehabilitation Services of the Bloorview MacMillan Centre. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65, 309–312.

10.

Korner-Bitensky

Sofer

Kaizer

Gelinas

Talbot

(1994). Assessing ability to drive following an acute neurological event: Are we on the right road? Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 141–148.

11.

Korner-Bitensky

Coopersmith

Mayo

Leblanc

Kaizer

(1990). Perceptual and cognitive impairments and driving. Canadian Family Physician, 36, 323–325.

12.

Quigley

F. L.

DeLisa

J. A.

(1983). Assessing the driving potential of cerebral vascular accident patients. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 37, 474–478.