Adult Day Care
Affordable, Supportive, Flexible
Adult day care can be an affordable and life-affirming option for families with a member facing mild to moderate impairment.
Adult day care can be a refuge for mild to moderately impaired adults and a respite for their caregivers. As an alternative to nursing homes, it provides medication administration and onsite nursing care as needed, but gives participants the opportunity to optimize their emotional, physical and mental needs.
Adult day care can be a blessing for families of those enrolled. Some have told us that it is the best thing that ever happened to them, that they are afforded peace of mind knowing their loved one is in the hands of caring, competent staff. Others say they simply would not have survived without this option. Many facilities offer transportation that can make it more possible for elderly spouses or working children to send their loved ones for the day.
In recognizing the equally important role of taking care of the caregiver as well as the participant, adult day centers may also provide a la carte services such as personal care or showering and visits from a beautician and a podiatrist. Extended hours are available when needed. A partnering nursing home may offer 24-hour respite so caregivers can take a vacation, business trip or much-needed break.
Sometimes adult day care is simply a temporary support. It may serve as transitional care to aid in returning a hospitalized patient to independent living. Adult day services may be utilized to give an older adult time to improve activities of daily living, adjust to new medications and reestablish sleeping and eating patterns, all under the watchful eye of adult day care staff. For families, this can afford them the time to modify their home so they are conducive to care and gives them time to access community resources and continue working and attending to their personal responsibilities.
The Alzheimer’s Association offers several points to ensure an individual’s success in an adult day center:
- Early involvement is one of the keys to success.
- Introduce the experience in simple terms that the person can understand and accept, such as the benefit of getting out and being with other people or the opportunity to help others and stay busy.
- Share with staff your family member’s medical and social needs.
- Talk to staff if you want reports on daily activities.
- Consider the person’s needs – and your own – in deciding the number of days to utilize these services. Continuity and predictability are important, but plunging immediately into a five-day schedule may generate feelings of abandonment.
- Allow time for adjustment but be firm in expectations.
- Be reliable and punctual in pick-up and drop-off times.