Adult day care offer services to people who live alone at home during the day. It's a great option over sitting at home in front of a TV or for those who cannot stay home by themselves. Adult daycare provides meals, activities, and social interaction in a facility where they're monitored by trained staff and licensed nurses. At the end of the day, they return home with family. Adult daycare eliminates or puts off the need for an assisted living room or a nursing home facility.
The results of a recent study demonstrate that adult day care services are helpful in reducing the level of stress on family caregivers. After three months of use, family caregivers experienced fewer depressive symptoms than those who did not use adult day care services. The benefits were still present after 1 year.
Families reported that loved ones using adult day care had a positive reaction to adult day care services. Loved ones' benefits:
Easier to manage
More active
More alert
Researchers believe that positive changes in family caregivers' well-being also attributes to positive behavior in dementia patients.
The Benefits for Caregivers
Reduce Stress
Decreased symptoms of depression
Patients were more alert
Patients interact socially
Family caregivers were extremely positive when evaluating the adult day care programs. They reported that their relatives enjoyed the social interaction, the physical activities and cognitive stimulation.
Common concerns of families when enrolling a loved one into an adult day care program:
Difficulty transporting the person to and from the facility
Concerns that a loved one attending might be harder to manage at home when the day had ended
Conclusion: Only a small number of family members reported either to be an issue after the study, and 66 percent experienced less stress on days that their loved ones attended adult day care compared to the times they did not.
More Benefits of Adult Day Care
Preserves Independence
Adult day care offers day long or short day programs that allow people with needs a chance to leave the house and be involved with others socially. Older adults or people living with a disability yearn for independence. An adult day care gives one a chance to enjoy being on one's own in a safe and caring environment, time away from the family, and to do things with others like them.
Participants enjoy control over the activities they choose to do, increasing a sense of well-being; an important factor in rehabilitation or recovery.
Adult day care improves patient and caregiver relationships too. These are often strained due to stressful situations; a major reason people with needs move to a nursing home. Caring for older adults or another person with activities of daily living needs puts overwhelming stress on families.
Adult day care relieves them for several hours a day, allowing family members some time on their own.
Improve Senior Health
Monitors senior safety and health
According to the National Center on Aging, 133 million Americans have a chronic condition; heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, or cancer. Every 35 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall. One in five (older adults) live with depression, anxiety, or substance abuse.
Adult day care helps remedy these issues by offering older adults a place to go every day and receive care, nutritious meals, mental and physical stimulation, and companionship.
(https://www.adultdaycare.org/resources/benefits-of-adult-day-care/)