Driving has always been a big part of Sunshine Coast resident Cecil Collins' life.
"I had a Subaru Forester and I used to take myself all over the place," said Cecil.
Since moving into Seasons Aged Care Caloundra Cecil has given up driving, and said goodbye to his beloved car.
His daughter Glenda Mountford has fond memories of her dad taking the family on drives around Sydney when she was younger.
"I grew up with a 100 Miles Around Sydney book and we went every direction," she said.
Cecil now lives at Seasons Aged Care Caloundra. It was these childhood memories that prompted Glenda to bring up her dad's love of exploring the countryside when discussing his care plan with Envigor Home Care - Seasons's care business.
We didn't have much of a car - we only had a truck sometimes - but we would go out as a family, have a picnic and investigate 100 miles from Sydney.
"When we were talking about outings for Dad, I mentioned the driving as it's so important for Dad to go out and see new things because that's what he did with us kids - he took us out," she said.
Studies have show that stopping driving can have a major effect on an older person's wellbeing and lead to depression in some cases - but there are options to help bridge the mobility gap.
An option for those who have given up driving is to access social support and transport services through a home care provider to do activities that are meaningful to them in the wider community.
This can take a variety of forms, including going to group activities, enjoying lunch at a café, going on a walk or help with the shopping.
For Cecil, his social support means going on drives around his local area. These visits have helped stop him from feeling isolated and gets him out and about.
Now every Monday Cecil goes out for a coffee. "I think we've been to most of the little cafes around the area."
Glenda says that the simple act of going for a drive and stopping for a cuppa gives her dad so much more than you might think.
"He's able to go out, see all the new things that weren't around when he first moved up - all the development, the roads, the shops, the hospitals.
"He likes to see whatever's happening, even just to go to a building site to see how the buildings are built today, they're different to when he built so it's all interesting. That's the gem of the outings - to go somewhere.
"He's happy, which makes me happy."
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