Supporting safe driving practices among consumers of mental health services: guidelines for assessment

Driving is often omitted or ignored during assessment and ongoing work with consumers of mental health services. This Open Forum describes guidelines to help providers of psychiatric services to support safe driving practices among consumers. The guidelines were developed over seven years with contributions from a wide range of stakeholders. They include key principles for conducting screening and initial assessment, obtaining a detailed driving history, and performing risk assessment. The guidelines include information about process (how to assess) and content (what information to seek) of driving assessment. Because driving is regulated by local jurisdictions and national legislation, the guidelines provide a general framework for addressing questions about driving practices among consumers of mental health services. They are intended to complement, rather than replace, existing guidelines, by providing a focus on the occupation of driving. In so doing, they provide principled information to embed driving assessment and intervention as part of psychiatric services.