The ability to drive and have access to a vehicle is recognized as a critical need and skill as we age. The more we talk openly about this, the more we learn there are many tools, steps, adaptations, and supports available to facilitate independence – to either keep driving or access alternatives. Learn more as we visit with Terry Cassidy of Fitness to Drive.
During December, families often come together and see there may be issues evolving. For this reason, Older Driver Awareness week was established in December.
Learn more at Fitness to Drive
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude – whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer.
BEACON Senior News is a proud sponsor/partner for this podcast. BEACON Senior News empowers Colorado seniors with inspiring local stories, timely coverage of senior issues, health and travel features, retirement and financial guidance, senior expos and local resources — all presented in a fun, engaging way that helps older adults lead happier, healthier lives. Catch all the news at: beaconseniornews.com/
Transcript
MELISSA MARTS:
It seems there’s never a good time to talk with a older friend of yours or family member about giving up the keys. But the good news is that doesn’t have to be what the story is about. There’s other opportunities to talk about safe driving, how to be a better driver, how to be able to keep your keys for a lot longer than you would have ever even dreamed.
And so in the episode coming up, we interview Terry Cassidy, who is the owner of Fitness to Drive, and get lots of tools and tips on how to be a safer and long-term older driver.
VOICEOVER:
You’re listening to Studio 809 podcasts, the cure for common apathy and indifference. Reported side effects include a sense of being informed and engaged. Ask your doctor if Studio 809 is right for you.
MARTS:
Welcome to Aging with Altitude, a podcast providing information, advice, and resources for seniors, families, and caregivers to help you live your best life, courtesy of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging. We’re coming to you from the Studio 809 Community Podcast Studio at The Next Us, a professional cooperative environment for small businesses in downtown Colorado Springs. I’m your host, Melissa Marts, with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging.
Today in the studio, I am with our wonderful sponsor, Beacon Senior News, and visiting here with Rhonda Ray, the managing editor. And we’re here to chat a little bit about what the December Beacon Senior News holds for us here in the Pikes Peak region. So welcome back again, Rhonda.
RHONDA RAY:
Thank you.
MARTS:
Thank you for your publications. And tell me a little bit about December.
What are you guys writing about?
RAY:
Tamales. Are you a tamale fan?
MARTS:
I’m a huge tamale fan.
RAY:
Red or green chili?
MARTS:
Ooh, I like them both, but I think I might have to say green.
RAY:
Well, we are writing about tamale making, how that’s a tradition of a lot of families at Christmas. We are highlighting a Pueblo restaurant, plus just some people who have grown up eating tamales, like tamales. And I’m thinking after all that, I want to have tamales this Christmas.
So I’ve already told my family that that might be part of our Christmas. How about charcuterie and tamales? Is that weird?
I think it sounds good.
MARTS:
I’m going to come to your house. I’m going to bring a couple of people with me. That would be fun.
RAY:
Yes. I’ve actually made them one time, but there was a whole lot of us that did it. It was very fun, but would I want to tackle it by myself? Probably not. Very labor intensive.
So I think that’s why El Nopal in Pueblo does so well is because a lot of people don’t want to go to all the trouble.
MARTS:
So true. So true. Yeah. But I sure love to eat them and I love to taste all the different ones around town and around the region. So…
RAY:
Isn’t it great?
MARTS:
Yeah. I’ll have to go down and visit El Nopal in Pueblo. Great.
What else is in the edition for December?
RAY:
Well, how to write your memoir. So that should be interesting. This woman who is writing it, Colleen Story, is a very great writer herself.
And so I’m really curious. I think it is supposed to have a bit of a Christmas twist to it. I have not seen or read it yet, but I’ll be interested along with all the rest of you about that.
MARTS:
That sounds like a lot of fun. What a great way to spend kind of the holiday to have people share a little bit of their memoir as part of the holiday gathering time.
RAY:
Exactly.
MARTS:
Nice. Good, good.
Other things, anything else?
RAY:
There is a fun one called Cool at Any Age. And this woman got her husband the gift of a Corvette and this was for his birthday, could be for Christmas.
Anyway, she went on, what is that site where you can get the true… I’m drawing a blank.
MARTS:
Like Carfax or something like that?
RAY:
Well, yeah, it starts with a T. But anyway, she went on there, she found this Corvette and they had a ball. And so if you want an unusual gift for a special someone in your life, you might think about renting a cool car.
MARTS:
Yeah. And along with renting a cool car, part of what we’re doing in the studio today, of course, is meeting some folks about safe driving for older adults, right?
RAY:
Yes. So you probably maybe don’t want to be driving a Corvette when you do that one, right?
MARTS:
Or maybe you do because you’re just, you know, you’re, you’re…
RAY:
You’re scared you’ll mess it up. That’s true. That’s probably how I would be. I’d be the one putting along.
MARTS:
Yeah. Yep. Taking it easy.
RAY:
Yeah. Totally.
MARTS:
But loving it nonetheless. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, good. I’m glad to hear that. I’ll look forward to hearing about how she found this Corvette and hopefully some adventures that they had as a result too.
RAY:
Yes. It was pretty cool.
MARTS:
Tell a memoir, go eat some tamales, drive a Corvette. What more could you want?
RAY:
Well, you could want how to be safe as you are decorating your home for the holidays. So that’s in there.
And, let me see. Smart resolutions. Our friends at the UCCS Aging Center sent us some smart resolutions for 2026. So that’s something that probably we all could use more of.
MARTS:
Yes. Very true.
RAY:
Yeah.
MARTS:
Very true. And tell us again, where can we find the Beacon?
RAY:
Oh, you can find the Beacon at Safeways. You can find it at thrift stores. They’re our big customers.
You can find it at some restaurants, banks, doctor’s offices, libraries, YMCA’s. We’re around, I think 200 different places around town.
MARTS:
200 different places, so important to just be on the lookout for this wonderful publication and also online too, correct?
RAY:
Oh yeah, for sure. For sure.
MARTS:
Okay, great. And is it BeaconSeniorNews…
RAY:
.com
MARTS:
Okay. Easy enough. And they can look at it right there. If they’re not getting a hard copy in their hands quick enough, people can go online.
RAY:
Exactly. Yeah.
MARTS:
Well, thank you again, Rhonda. We look forward to reading Beacon Senior News every single month. And thank you for sponsoring Aging with Altitude.
We appreciate it.
RAY:
You bet. Thank you, Melissa.
MARTS:
All right.
Today in the studio, I have with me somebody I have known for a couple of years. It’s been great getting to know Terri Cassidy. And Terri Cassidy, she owns a company called Fitness to Drive.
And I asked Terri to come in with us today because the first week of December is driver, older driver awareness week. And what does that really mean? And we have stories of our older adult parents when they’re not ready to give up the keys and everybody starts getting crazy and busy about it and not sure what to do and upset and worried.
But really, there’s some options and some really great ideas to redirect those conversations and not be so weird about it. And so anyway, older driver awareness week in December, I have Terri Cassidy here to tell us, I’d like you to start out with kind of a story. Tell us a little bit about some folks that have come through and you have worked with at one time or another.
Welcome, Terri.
TERRI CASSIDY:
Sure. Thanks, Melissa. Glad to be here.
Yes, as you mentioned, we work with drivers of all ages, but quite a few older adult drivers. And in terms of just a recent story that stands out to me was a couple, a husband and wife, who both came in for driving evals on the same day. And so, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, because they’re pretty lengthy.
But the reason was, you know, a lot of these stories have a lot of complexity and pieces to them. But these two individuals live in a small town outside of Colorado Springs, were involved in a couple of crashes, and not their fault.
One was a head on crash.
MARTS:
Wow.
CASSIDY:
Multiple physical injuries, hospitalization. And then the wife was involved as a passenger in a second crash, both involving impaired drivers, unfortunately, were the person responsible for the crash.
So they, the husband and wife, who are in their late 60s, have been here, staying with their son, recovering medically, both really anxious about driving, living pretty rurally. They really feel like they need to drive. They’re young, they’re active. They have all these things to get back to, but were really, just really unsure about returning to driving because of all these traumatic events recently.
MARTS:
Wow, oh my.
CASSIDY:
And so they were able to come and, you know, individually have their sessions with our occupational therapist, who has a medical background, so is looking at, okay, these are the procedures you’ve been through, this is how it’s impacting you.
Let’s just look at the skills we need for driving, your vision, your strength, your range of motion, you know, did you hit your head? Were there some cognitive changes with any of this? And then get in the car and do a drive for about an hour with each of them, to really help them have some, them and their family, right, have some confidence.
And happily, they both did great on the evaluations, but just this peace of mind for the family and for the individual that they’re ready to get back to driving, kind of after all that’s been going on, and also being able to discuss just kind of the anxiety and some strategies to slowly get back to driving and, you know, from a mental health perspective, working in to feeling confident as drivers again as well.
MARTS:
Wow. And so I haven’t thought about it from that perspective. You know, I think about the, like I said, kind of earlier, the older son comes to town over the holidays and wants dad to give up his keys and thinks he’s going to make that happen.
But yet there’s also this other story, too, of older adults who have been through some type of trauma, or anybody who’s been through a traumatic car accident, which for listeners on today, if you’ve experienced that and kind of know what that’s been like to then turn around and get back in a car and feel confident and not, you know, have kind of a post-traumatic response to a car accident where you kind of start to panic or, you know, see something that’s not really happening because you see a flash of light and then it’s not really there, but then you start to panic.
So this is a really interesting kind of way to look at the resources that you guys can provide to people to help them, you know, kind of psychologically and mentally kind of get through the accident and be able to get back on the road and be confident again.
You talked a little bit about kind of the OT that kind of evaluates folks. And so tell us a little bit, you have kind of an OT, an occupational therapist that kind of does this. What does that look like?
CASSIDY:
Yeah, so our company, Fitness to Drive, we provide occupational therapy, driver rehabilitation services is like the full technical name. So all of our employees that are working with clients are occupational therapists with a specialty and specialized training in driving. And so we’re really bringing a medical approach to this driving piece and really bringing an approach that looks at, not just can you operate a vehicle, but these other levels of where do you need to go? Is what you need to do and your skill level a fit?
So kind of talking about more of our, probably more common driving evaluation, which might be somebody who’s coming because their kids are just concerned.
MARTS:
That little story that I mentioned, right?
CASSIDY:
That we see often.
MARTS:
Yeah.
CASSIDY:
And in that case, part of what we’re looking at, it’s not a basic operator skills test like you would have at the DMV, can you make two right turns and two left turns and park? It’s a really in-depth look at kind of what’s going on in a bunch of different factors and how are those impacting driving now? And even having those discussions of how might they impact driving in the future?
So for example, we have people who might not test very well on some of the like reaction time, visual processing, cognitive aspects of the in-clinic, but then they get out and they drive really well. And so we want to be able to have those conversations with family of like, there might be some processes that are starting to happen, age-related, potentially dementia related. Right now, they’re not impacting their driving. What can we do to help put some guardrails up, keep this person safe?
But we really want to keep people driving as long as it’s safe to do so. So there’s a lot of nuance and a lot of conversation about timing.
MARTS:
Wow. You guys are a wealth of information. Every time I sit with you and talk with you, I always walk away so grateful that I know I can turn to you to get all kinds of answers to questions that I didn’t even know I had.
Tell us a little bit about your path and how you got to be the owner of Fitness to Drive. So, who is Terri, and how did you get to be the owner of this great company, Fitness to Drive?
CASSIDY:
Oh, well, thanks for asking. So I have been in this Colorado Springs community since 2000, worked for 18 years in a hospital situation. So acute rehab outpatient.
So really a wide medical background and really got interested in kind of this very specific area of occupational therapy. Because I had patients who have had a brain injury or a stroke and they’re saying, I want to go back to driving. You know, occupational therapists, we work toward getting people back to their lives. And so driving is, to me, just a natural extension of that of what keeps us independent, what keeps us, it’s part of our identity, who we are, and helps us fulfill other roles in our life.
So to me, driving is just a big part of a person for a lot of us. And so when my patients were asking these questions, I was like, oh, I don’t know, but no one else is answering your question either. So let’s try to figure it out.
So I was able to start training in this area within the hospital system, started driver rehab program at the hospital. And then when that program closed, I started the private practice.
MARTS:
Yeah. And, you know, so I think we are so fortunate in our region to have this resource, because, you know, oftentimes, it’s really something that people who have, you know, unfortunately had a terrible accident in their life, and they end up meeting, you know, a driver rehabilitation person, you know. And so to know that older adults, family members of folks who are older, can access a resource like this without actually having to go through, you know, some type of terrible accident or hospital situation within the hospital, you know, to be able to just find you guys online and make a call and talk about the resources you guys have available, is really a nice opportunity for us to have here.
And I’m glad you were able to transfer transition from like the hospital setting to provide this kind of, up and down the Front Range, right? So you’re not just in Colorado Springs, you’re, where are your offices?
CASSIDY:
So we have office two Denver offices. Now we just opened in Aurora, so Aurora in Westminster, and then Fort Collins. But I appreciate you saying that in terms of like, just being a resource to the community, as opposed to…it’s been really interesting transition from being in a hospital system to being in the community.
And it’s been really nice, because we are just have a lot of flexibility to provide education to do things like thi,s to give presentations, talk to support groups, things like that. It’s been a really rewarding part, too.
MARTS:
Yeah. You know, I feel like my example of, you know, the older son coming into town and wanting to take dad’s keys away and ready to kind of rally for that is such a, kind of an ageist, you know, kind of example to use. And it’s, you know, not very empowering for older adults.
And it’s also very stereotypical of, you know, kind of what we expect to see sometimes. And so I’m glad that you opened with a story of, you know, a couple that might have not even, you know, had any kinds of, you know, driving needs, they just were unfortunate victims of, you know, an accident, and are able to, you know, kind of get back into the swing of things and be able to drive a lot more comfortably, you know, after kind of working with you guys.
I find it really fascinating to think about what goes into driving. And you kind of hinted around a little bit about this, you know, reaction time, visual processing, you know, kind of how people are positioned in their cars. You know, things that I don’t know that people always think about, and you just take for granted when you’re a driver. But you guys are able to kind of break things down into, kind of, minutiae detail and help people really focus.
Tell us, I mean, what does that look like, you know, when you’re spending some time with a person in your office, and then figuring out kind of where you’re going, and, you know, talk a little bit about some of those minutiae of, you know, skills and what we take for granted every day when we drive.
CASSIDY:
We do, right. And it’s, I mean, it’s partially just because driving for all of us becomes an overlearned activity. And so a lot of us don’t remember our drive to wherever we are right now.
Somehow I showed up here.
MARTS:
Yeah.
CASSIDY:
Thankfully, it all went well.
MARTS:
Yeah.
CASSIDY:
It is very overlearned.
So when we’re talking about somebody who’s 80 years old, has been driving for maybe 70 of those, if they grew up on a farm, you know, I talked to people who’ve been driving for a long, long time.
MARTS:
Yeah.
CASSIDY:
That is, you know, just a baseline that we keep in mind. Coming to us and doing a driving evaluation, often clients are like, oh, I didn’t realize, exactly what you’re saying, Melissa, like, I didn’t realize that all of these things impact driving.
So there’s the obvious things like that they test at the DMV, right? So everybody thinks of vision, because they’re going to test my vision at the DMV. They’re not necessarily going to test your neck range of motion to see if you can look over your shoulder.
MARTS:
Wow.
CASSIDY:
There’s certainly, I mean, they don’t really test anything besides vision.
MARTS:
Right, right.
CASSIDY:
But in terms of what we’re looking at, like the evaluation is up to three hours. And so people are like, are we going to drive to Denver and back? What are we going to do that whole time?
But when they come in, they’re like, oh, this is just really thorough. Like it’s a very thorough appointment, where we’re looking at, we’re looking at vision, but we’re looking at pieces like contrast sensitivity.
So some things that tend to decrease with age, which is why a lot of us don’t like driving at night, because our contrast sensitivity isn’t as good, we can’t see as well in low light situations. So that’s something we can test. We’re not generally doing our evaluations at night. So we’re not testing that part behind the wheel, but we can test it in the clinic and have discussions around some of these things that change with age that we may not even notice is happening. So vision is certainly one of those things.
Reaction time is one of those things, a lot of just slowing of some other processes, cognitive processes too. And so we do some paper and pencil tests, we do some, you know, questioning kinds of assessments, just to get an idea.
Because I, my mentor talked a lot about our role as, like we’re detectives. And so we do all of this ahead of time, this testing in the clinic, then we go out and we spend a good amount of time in the car, our car, brake on the passenger side. I do want to clarify that. Because so much of that is trying to figure out, okay, what’s going on? If there’s a problem, what is that stemming from? And maybe it’s something that can be fixed.
Maybe it’s something that can be helped. We just, up in Fort Collins just today, worked with a veteran whose visual acuity is outside of the state limits because of macular degeneration. So our recommendation is to not drive right now. But what we’re doing about it is reaching back out to the VA. Certainly, our first thing is, does he have the proper glasses? Like, does he have the best possible correction? But then if so, there are some other things, some bioptic lenses that some people can use while driving with extra training.
So we’re really trying to look at, where are some of these safety concerns and is there anything that can be done to help you stay safe on the road?
MARTS:
Yeah. And so I think that like for people who are listening, one takeaway from today is don’t wait to reach out and talk to somebody. You might not even know the right questions to ask, but kind of open that door and start checking.
Because again, like with your veteran up in Fort Collins, the sooner that person can start getting some training on how to use these bioptic lenses, you know, the better the chance that they’re going to be able to kind of get back behind the wheel and drive and feel confident again to do that. And I think, correct me if I’m wrong, but so often people wait until the last minute and then it might be a little bit too late. But, you know, they say that with hearing aids, the sooner people really do embrace the idea of getting some hearing aids, the quicker they can adapt and the easier it is for them to stay connected and with people that they want to be around.
And I feel like that’s also true kind of with driving.
CASSIDY:
Certainly true with driving, yes.
MARTS:
Yeah. When you talk about the contrast sensitivity, what is something that you do with your people to help. You know, so you talked about bioptic lenses for macular degeneration, depending on the person and kind of where they’re at, of course, but also with this contrast sensitivity, what are some things that people can do to help kind of prepare themselves to be a little bit more adjusted to that? Or, you know, what kind of tips and tricks do you guys do?
CASSIDY:
That one’s trickier in terms of we don’t have like a magic cure to fix it. So that becomes trickier. So that’s where a lot of what we’re talking to our clients about is where, how often are you driving at night?
Do you need to drive at night? So sometimes it’s changing our habits and routines around driving to match our skill level or kind of what’s happening in our bodies. So a lot of people we talk to have already stopped driving at night, especially if their contrast sensitivity tests as pretty low.
They’re like, oh yeah, I let my husband drive or I don’t go anywhere at night or I take an Uber at night or, you know, so these different options.
MARTS:
Yep.
CASSIDY:
And then just education around that also could pertain to a really snowy day or like other poor light conditions. And a lot of those same clients are like, I get to choose, I’m retired. I don’t have to go out if the weather’s bad.
And so a lot of times people are already making really good, safe decisions. And this just helps support like…
MARTS:
You’re doing the right thing.
CASSIDY:
This is why. And it’s really, you’re making good decisions. And I recommend you keep doing that.
MARTS:
Yeah. Well, that’s good. Glad to hear that. Glad to hear that.
And you kind of brought up Uber. I do want to spend just a second here talking a little bit about kind of other options for people, like when they do have to walk away from, you know, their vehicle and say that, you know, the time is now.
And so now I’m going to do some other things and I’m not driving. What are some of the other options for people that they can tap into when they get to that point? And, you know, feel free to throw in, you know, kind of any thoughts that you have.
But then, of course, I have a few ideas too, but.
CASSIDY:
Yes, please. Chip in. I was going to say, it does depend on where you live. So there’s that, of course. And the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging has a great guide with some alternative transportation options. So we certainly like, here are referring people out to organizations like Silver Key, like, I’ll let you list the others on there. But there’s some collaborative efforts that are fantastic.
Ride sharing, you know, just kind of publicly available ride sharing. There are services to help people learn how to use those. So there can be just hesitation, I think, to some of those services. But some of those can work out really well too.
A lot of people we talk to when we’re having that conversation that it’s no longer safe for you to be driving, we do talk about options, try to give them handouts kind of particular to what their setting is.
I do think a lot of times it does come down to friends and family helping out, is people’s first thought. And honestly, a lot of times that can work out really well. So this idea of people, you know, everybody says, I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want to have someone have to go out of their way for me.
And so we might talk about things like maybe you take them to lunch when they take you to the doctor’s appointment, or things like that. So just ways to kind of trade time and energy.
And there’s a lot of places people are going anyway, and they’re happy to pick you up on the way. So there are some resources I can share just about like transportation planning, not just on like, what service is going to get me there, but where do I need to go? How often do I do it? Who else is going? They’re all good conversations too.
MARTS:
Yeah, I like that a lot, you know, and December, holidays, the times are here to actually be talking a little bit more with our loved ones and our family members about, you know, how can we be more supportive? And what can that look like? And it really is somewhat of a natural conversation to have.
But sometimes it’s a little hard to get to that conversation because people aren’t really sure how to, you know, just really jump in and start talking about it. But it really is just a natural part of, you know, the evolution of where we’re at in, you know, life and an opportunity to figure out different ways to support each other and be there for each other. So I welcome listeners to have those conversations during the holidays and, you know, kind of jump in and think about being there for each other for sure.
Do you, you know, since it’s one week in December, kind of the ideally the beginning week of December, thinking and digging in a little bit more to talk about, you know, driver awareness, we’ve talked about, you know, the different skill sets and kind of supporting each other. Do you have any kind of insight if they’re going to have, if there’s a particular theme that might come up at the beginning of December, you know, any kind of particular advocacy, or I didn’t get a chance to do any deeper dive into it. But I don’t know if you guys have been hearing anything out there that there might be any particular focus or, you know, news that might come out to talk about it?
CASSIDY:
I’m really not sure. I know that, you know, it is multiple organizations that support this older driver safety awareness week. And it is, like you mentioned, kind of timing wise, the first week of December, because families are often getting together, they may see family at Thanksgiving. Maybe they have some concerns.
MARTS:
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.
CASSIDY:
They get together again at Christmas. And so oftentimes there are like on social media, different themes.
I know the, like, Association of Driver Rehab Specialists is putting together a campaign, kind of with different to each day being something different. So kind of like, what can we be doing proactively, and then moving toward having difficult conversations. And then even transportation resources, there’s usually some version of that.
MARTS:
Okay. Yeah. And that that’s a nice progression of getting through for people who are listening and thinking about that.
CASSIDY:
Yeah. And I would say my biggest thoughts around the driving conversations, and whether it’s with family members, or kind of in a professional capacity, is that it should really not just be a one time conversation. So kind of like you were mentioning, like it can come up naturally, it’s often avoided, like, intentionally, I guess. I guess people are very resistant to even bringing it up with somebody because they know it’s a really personal topic. And it’s really can be difficult.
So I would say start early when you’re not noticing problems and just having those discussions of like, at some point, we will all, well, if we’re lucky enough, we will outlive our ability to drive. And so, trying to shift to like, not an if, but when discussion, and when that happens, how can I best support you? And how will you know?
And just having these conversations on an ongoing basis, I think takes away some of the stigma, or that’s the hope, at least.
MARTS:
Yeah, well, I think it’s a huge, great start, because there are resources out there, and there are some alternatives that, again, we don’t even know are out there unless we happen to be listening to the podcast today. And so, I know that the area agency on aging here in the Pikes Peak region does have some funding that’s available, very minimal, to help cover some of the costs of what you guys do. But the next thing, of course, that comes up is, there is a cost to doing this.
And so then, people are like, oh, I don’t know if I wanna pay for that. And so, talk a little bit about kind of how people do end up getting this service paid for, and what are kind of the ballpark figures in terms of what are people looking at if they’re wanting to get some, of course, some help is absolutely free in terms of just going on a website and looking at the resources that are available. That is just free.
But then, there’s some other things that definitely cost a little bit of money, but these are professional services that are out there for people. And so, again, talk a little bit about the different costs and, again, how people might get some help to get some covered, but, again, it’s not, you know, there’s not a ton of money out there, so.
CASSIDY:
Yes, yes, and I would say majority of our older adult clients are paying privately for the evaluation, as we talked about. It’s three hours, one-on-one, really dedicated time to our client. And so, private pay for the evaluation is $540.
There are some funding options. Like you mentioned, there’s some small grants that we can use at times. Another good resource is if you’re a veteran, the VA will cover the cost of the evaluation.
So, I do wanna mention that you have to have a provider through the VA, and they would need to write the order for that, but that’s something we could talk you through. And then there are some other little areas, sometimes if someone has a specific diagnosis, there might be a foundation or an organization that can help with funding. We connect with The Independence Center sometimes to help people find funding.
Honestly, a lot of people, their adult children are willing to pay for that evaluation, for that peace of mind, like we said.
MARTS:
Yeah, for sure.
CASSIDY:
We’ve had people talk to their church groups, to other faith groups, to a variety of kind of community coming together to support each other.
MARTS:
Yeah, and I just wanna reiterate, too, that that fee, that $540 is just a really useful tool to learn a lot about, kind of, skill sets that you can be building on, that you can be learning from. The sooner people tap into that, the more you’ll be better prepared and knowledgeable for the future. But I know it is hard to encourage people to spend the money, to step up and do it, but I think it’s a really important resource that people have at their fingertips that they can take advantage of, for sure.
And so tell us where people, what is your website and what is your contact information, Terri?
CASSIDY:
Sure, so Fitness to Drive. So our website is fitnesstodrive.org. And on there, there’s a resource page with a bunch of information.
There’s our, just phone number to our office is 719-231-6657. So you can always just give us a call. You can also book a consult call.
So you can just schedule a call, basically. If you just have questions and you’re just wondering if this is right for you or for your loved one, just give us a call and we’ll talk you through it. Those are kind of the places to start, for sure.
MARTS:
Great, super. Well, I think that’s good to hear. I encourage people to go and check out those resources and learn a little bit and be prepared to kind of jump in and get some really good answers.
I know for me personally, something that was kind of enlightening for me. I wear glasses and I was on an Alzheimer’s conference one time and they were sharing some information about visual acuity. And for whatever reason, the Alzheimer’s Association was just bringing that up. And so I went online and tried some of their activities and I found out that, at 57, my visual acuity and my reaction time isn’t as great as I thought it was.
I’m not 60, I’m not 65, I’m not 80. I figured I have no issues. Well, I learned that I have some training that I can do just for myself, with my own eyesight and my own vision.
And so I say that to listeners because it’s kind of fun to go and realize, it’s not just about doing a word hunt or a crossword puzzle or doing Sudoku or whatever, but there’s just so many great resources out there to help keep us sharp and kind of, you know, playing around with some things. And I thought I was okay, but my visual response time was a little slow. So I’m working on it.
CASSIDY:
Good for you for looking at that and taking advantage. And I would say, you know, in terms of how can we keep our driving health, how can we support our driving health is really kind of the same things you’re hearing for most areas of life is like, physical activity, eating well, going to see your eye doctor, you know, just all the things that you hear from health professionals all the time, all of those things are the most likely to keep you in a good shape for driving as well.
MARTS:
Love it, yeah. So keep moving, keep active, and we’ll hopefully be able to live as long as we wanna be living, right? So anyway, all right.
Well, thank you, Terri.
CASSIDY:
Thank you.
MARTS:
Happy Older Driver Awareness Week. Looking forward to it.
So, take care.
CASSIDY:
Thank you so much.
MARTS:
That’s the show. Thanks to all of you for being with us today. Aging with Altitude is created by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging.
Visit us at ppacg.org and click on aging services for more information about the programs of the area agency on aging.