Are you afraid to leave your senior loved one home alone, but you have to go to work?
Maybe you spend all day at home with them and find yourself needing a break.
Taking care of an elderly relative comes with many challenges. Everyone considers the medications and the therapies, but not many think about the toll being a caregiver will play on their day-to-day life.
If your loved one needs round-the-clock care, it is hard to run errands.
If you work away from home, you worry and feel uncomfortable leaving them unattended.
The role of the caregiver is stressful and can affect your mood, making self-care important.
Adult day care provides respite care, helping you to be a better caregiver.
What is Adult Day Care?
An adult day care center is typically a non-residential facility for seniors. These types of facilities usually offer support with health, daily living, and social needs.
They function as a means to provide assistance and supervision for the elderly while their family members work or just take a break.
Usually staffed with certified nursing assistants and social workers, adult day care centers operate during most business hours, with additional options for evenings and weekends.
How Adult Day Care Helps Families
There are a lot of benefits to adult day care for both the caregiver and the senior family member. While the caregiver gets a break from their stressful role, the senior family member gets an opportunity to interact socially.
Help for the Caregiver
Adult day care helps families by offering caregivers a break from caring for their elderly loved ones. Sometimes that break is needed for things like work or running errands. Other times, caregivers might just need to relax without round-the-clock care.
When a family member is caring for a senior loved one, finding relief from the physical demands and stress can be difficult, if not impossible. They find themselves “on-call,” sometimes round-the-clock. Adult day care centers offer those caregivers respite.
Getting a break to recharge your batteries helps you become a better caregiver and allows you to catch up with other things. Adult day care centers offer you support and peace of mind while you do that.
Help for the Senior
There are many benefits to adult day care for your elderly loved one. Adult day care provides a safe environment for your loved one to spend part of their day.
Adult day care provides a safe, social environment for your senior loved one to visit.
It is a stimulating and enjoyable experience for most seniors. These facilities are bright, happy places where they can participate in physical exercise and social interaction.
The benefits of adult day care for a senior make it a good option for many families that caregivers should consider.
Services Offered at Adult Day Care
Services at each adult day care center will vary somewhat, but most will offer activities in the following areas.
- Social activities, such as arts and crafts, games, discussion groups, and celebrations.
- Health services such as giving the participant their medicine, checking their vital signs, and therapy services.
- Adult day care centers provide personal care to seniors while at the facility by aiding in toileting, hygiene, and feeding.
- They also offer services for caregivers like counseling, education, support groups, and help planning for their loved one’s care.
Since each center will differ slightly in the programs and activities available, finding the adult day care center that offers the services you need is essential.
When to Consider Adult Day Care
Caregivers need to consider adult day care if they worry about leaving their loved one home alone. Or if they are starting to feel frustrated or depressed and need a break. Caregivers can get overwhelmed with the caregiver role and begin to burn out.
If an elderly loved one cannot handle their day-to-day activities or if leaving them alone is unsafe due to health problems, adult day care is the perfect option when the caregiver can’t always be there.
But adult day care isn’t just for seniors who cannot be left alone. Some families might want to consider adult day care if their loved one is lonely or feeling isolated.
The social environment provided in adult day care centers will allow them to interact with other people and ease any depression.
Picking the Right Adult Day Care
Picking the right facility will require a lot of research. Not all adult day care centers are the same.
You will need to find out what activities they offer and what hours they are open. If the facility or programs you want aren’t available when you need it, it won’t be a good fit.
You will also want to evaluate their accreditation and certifications to ensure they can properly care for your loved one. And make sure you are comfortable with their staff to attendee ratio.
Once you've looked at all those things, it is beneficial to visit each facility. While you are there, pay attention to how everyone interacts with each other and if the seniors seem happy.
Quick Recap
Let’s quickly go over everything again to summarize.
- Adult day care centers are non-residential community centers for seniors. These centers offer tons of activities and programs to help keep your elderly loved one safe and entertained while you work or relax.
- Caregivers get much-needed help by using an adult day care. It provides respite, and some even offer caregiver support groups.
- Seniors benefit from the social interaction adult day care centers provide.
- When searching for a facility, it is best to make sure they offer all the programs you will need and to visit the adult day care to get a feel for the environment.
Leaving your elderly loved one in someone else’s care is a difficult decision to make if you still need more information, keep reading to see our Aging Life Care Managers can help.
Speak to an Aging Life Care Manager Today
Does your work schedule limit how much time you can spend at home caring for your elderly parent?
Do you spend so much time helping a senior loved one that you forget to take time for yourself?
Our Aging Life Care Managers are here to assist you in finding the best adult day care. With our extensive knowledge and experience, we coordinate the needs and services that will provide the best care for our clients.
Request a free consultation today and let us help you.
Request a Consultation
Life over 50 is complicated. From illnesses to general aging-related difficulties, there's a lot to learn and a lot to cope with. We understand and we're here to help answer questions and provide guidance on your options.