Quick summary
Adult daycare offers valuable respite to caregivers of patients who have Alzheimer's or other dementia, while also providing the patient with important cognitive and social stimulation that may slow the disease's progress. Here's how to line up care.
Steps 1 and 2: Learn about eligibility for adult daycare services and what's available
Step 1: Find out if the person is eligible for adult daycare services.
Adult daycare services are typically available to people with Alzheimer's who are living in their own homes (or with a caregiver) and who:
- Are in the early- to mid-stage of the disease
- Don't require constant one-on-one assistance
- Have some mobility (most programs allow a self-propelled wheelchair)
- Are continent (sometimes just bowel, sometimes bowel and bladder)
- Are not physically or verbally abusive
- Do not wander excessively
Depending on the program, you may need:
- Documentation of a doctor's diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's
- Proof the person lives within the community (for state-sponsored programs)
- An intake examination by the staff to determine eligibility according to its own requirements
Step 2: Look into what daycare services are available
Canvass local resources to determine programs in your area. Make a list of the possibilities so you can systematically check them out. You'll probably want to look at several, because no two programs are identical.
Shortcuts to finding programs:
- Your local Area Agency on Aging
- Caring.com's Local Aging Resources directory
- Your local Alzheimer's Association
- The National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA), for a list of local members
- The patient's physician(s)
- Fellow Alzheimer's care-giving support group, if you belong to one
- Other sources:
- The Yellow Pages (try "adult daycare" and "senior care," but the listings may be imprecise)
- An eldercare consultant
- Friends, colleagues, and neighbors
Very good comments and question. My question in a situation I have as spouse, is: where do I look for and obtain the aid required to hire and pay for inhome care for completely disabled person, incontinent, etc.? However I am so lucky she can speak clearly, and feed herself (an already prepared meal), it takes a lot out of caregivers due to her inability to process and stop the not-so-great comments that come directly out of her mouth without edit!
Good, common-sense guide with some important steps that can easily be overlooked by a stressed caregiver. Thank you for this helpful guide.
very helpful, I know I will refer to it again, and again in the future.
I had no idea where to start and no idea what to expect. Thank you so much
Hi Deja, thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, we have no expertise or knowledge on how to start a care center, but I do wish you luck with this venture! Take care -- Emily | Community manager
I want to start to care for healthy aging in my home. Were do I start?
Wish there was more available in the rural areas where we live. Only thing listed is senior centers.
Hi deescats, thanks for your comment. To answer your question: my guess is yes you would have to call, however I don't know why they wouldn't accept someone based on age unless it was some sort of payment issue. Either way, after a call or two I'm sure you'll get a better sense of what day care center will work best for you and your loved one. If you'd like to find Adult Day Care in your area, check our our local directory here: (http://www.caring.com/local/adult-day-care). I hope that helps! -- Emily
Hugs deescats
Do I need to call individual Adult Day Care Centers to find out if they accept 56 yr. old dementia clients?
Hi Circle Center, Thanks for the positive feedback and question! We share articles like this in our weekly e-newsletters, which you can sign up to receive here: http://www.caring.com/account/subscriptions Caring.com articles are also syndicated through a variety of leading online outlets, including The New York Times Company Regional Media Group, Yahoo! Health, MSN Health & Fitness, and EarthLink. If you have a blog or publication for which you'd like to include our contact, please get in touch via email to discuss further: http://www.caring.com/about/contact.html Thanks for asking!
This article is perfect concerning day care. With the help of friends and family, I took those exact steps except for talking to my husband (the AD patient) because he has no more reasoning abilities. We tell him he's going to the club for lunch and to go on a trip (he can do day tripping). He loves the activity. I had to learn to take him in and turn around immediately and leave while someone came to take him into the room with the others. Otherwise he doesn't want to stay. He is very happy when I come back to get him and asks me how I knew he was there. I have found the Dr. and the Day Care director/employees extremely helpful. If anyone lives in the Denver area, I would be happy to recommend our day care facility.
Great article. Do you have avenues for distribution? Best, Molly
I am going to look into this tomorrow, beginning with the Area Agency on Aging, I have already talked with Tom, and after we talked about it for a while, he indicated that he would be willing to give it a try. He has been in physical, occupational, and speech therapy for the past month, 3hours, 3 days each week, and is now only having speech therapy, so I think we can arrange day care at this point. Thanks for the information.
If you want to read first hand accounts on what happens at adult day care centers, read Debbie Stricoff's posts at http://blogs.vnsny.org/author/dstricoff/. She's the director of Adult Day Care Services at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and has some great stories!
I have a brother who lives with me who is disabled. He is 63 and I am interested in getting him into an adult day care facility for 1 - 2 days a week. His disabilities include: hearing disability (hearing aids in both ears), had polio as a child so he walks with a limp and cannot do any distance walking. Cleft palate and mild paralysis of vocal cords . . . this means that he must eat slowly and he cannot eat any tough grades of meat like sirloin steak.
I read the entire article and think it is something that would be good for both my mom and myself. We are moving from Florida to Puerto Rico. She has been living with me less than a year while she was being evaluated. Because of our imminent move, I have not registered her for medicaid. I understand that medicare does not pay for daycare services. What resources should I look into to find the services we need. Is there a list of day care centers and does medicaid cover citizens of Puerto Rico? Whom do I contact for this information. Thank you, Dolores Pasarell Rosner, daughter