One of my patients recently told me how their aunt is blind, and her aunt's husband has Alzheimer's. They are totally dependent upon each other and times are starting to get tough due to his slow decline. He is the only one who can drive, and twice during the past 6 months he has been found by the police in his car with his wife--totally lost. He'll be driving down the same roads he has for the past 50 years and will suddenly forget how to get somewhere. The problem with this is that he refuses to admit he's lost, and since his wife is blind she can't help them out.

It's a terrible situation. The family is wrestling with the idea of taking the car and license away from him for the safety of them both. But by doing that they will be taking away their ability to leave their house independently.

It is a tough decision to decide when is time to intervene.