Suggestions on Getting the Most Out of Adult Day Care Centers

The effectiveness of day care as a form of respite for caregivers and care receivers isn't only determined by the capabilities of the staff and the facility. Here are some tips on what you can do to get the most out of available services for yourself and your loved ones:

• Don't wait until your loved one's social skills are seriously impaired; early involvement seems highly conductive to a successful experience.
• Position the day care experience in terms your loved one understands and accept and work with the staff to help your loved one adjust. For some people, this means being direct about their own need for time alone; for others, emphasizing the potential good that their loved one will be providing for the program's more seriously impaired participants help; others may find it useful to dwell on the positive benefits of physical exercise, or social benefits of meeting new people of similar age and interests.
• Don't expect your loved one to remember or report on daily activities. If you are concerned about participation, talk to the program's Director, Nurse or Activities Director.
• Share with the staff any information on those activities that your loved one enjoys.
• How frequently day care should be used is based on the degree of impairment and the degree of support/acceptance by the client and family. Too few days may make acceptance difficult since continuity and a routine are essential, but plunging into a five-day week may inspire feelings of abandonment. Work with the staff and your loved one to come up with a schedule and adjust it with time as your needs and those of your loved one change.
• Be on time and reliable about dropping off and picking up your loved one and reinforce with him or her the dependable predictability of this new routine.
• Share with the staff any changes in your loved one's medical or social situation when they occur.
• Being a full-time caregiver can be exhausting on an entire family. Help yourself with a needed respite.

Your support and acceptance of the day care experience will help determine your loved one's success in this new environment. Being familiar with the program and activities and being appreciative of the positive outcomes of your loved one's involvement will help. But being supportive should not mean being intrusive. Your loved one needs to know that their participation is beneficial for himself, you and others. For the caring family, learning and accepting these facts will be the turning point in realizing positive benefits from the adult day care experience.