Things to Know About Adult Day Care
Adult Day Care is when a family takes a loved one with care needs to a day center so the family can get a respite from being the caregiver. These services offer more activities and companionship but generally offer less in coordination of care, complex supervision of the patients medications. While the Adult Day Care might give the senior medications the family provides they do not fax the doctor to get new prescriptions, call the doctor to coordinate the medications or otherwise supervise care. Insteqad they are more of a short respite. Many families note that the time it takes to take their loved on to the Adult Day Care Center is often more work than the resulting rest they get from it before they have to drive back.
Things to Know About Adult Day Care also has a high total cost when you add in both the cost of the direct care at $60-100 for 6 hrs in the Adult Day Care with the dollar or time cost of transporting to that Adult Day Care center.
For both of these reasons many choose residential Care homes as long term, home like, community based care choices that can offer even more care as the senior needs it. Adult Day Care is a short term option since they can’t offer more, do showers, provide over night care or help with the medicines while residential care homes can.
What to Expect?
Adult care / Residential Care is based predominantly on participants’ health care necessities. Most programs offer meals and some offer transportation to doctors’ appointments which Adult Day Care does not. Things to know about adult day care is that you have to provide all transportation or pay for it to their facility or the doctors appointment.
While both Adult Day Care and Residential care / Adult Group Care offer activities and programming. Residential Care homes are far more flexible at adjusting to changing medical and functional needs given their broader care services. Everyday activities consist of current events classes, arts and crafts, music, mind-stimulating games, and exercise, as apt to each.
Types of Adult Day Care Services
While they talk of two models they really offer short term, limited medical, care since they have to pass all of the responsible for coordination of care back to the family for doctors’ appointments, medication management beyond giving pills the family provides when they drop the senior off. While Adult Day Care is trying to offer more complex medical care the lack of direct clinical contact with their doctors and management of the medications limits what Adult Day Care can realy do.
Residential Care Homes on the other had have unlimited flexibility. They can let them stay overnight, can give and coordinate all medications and have frequent contact with the doctors for refills and medications changes. They sign and keep the medication record in one place which Adult Day Care cannot since the paitent moves home every night. Imagine moving that medication record around day to day and the many inconsistencies that might arise. Residential Care Homes can offer Adult Day Care like services. If you live there you can go home every night if you and the family want. However, when you want to stay overnight, get help with the medications, get a shower in the residential care home you can.
Adult day care centers are usually open during standard business hours. They can stand alone or be a branch of senior citizen centers, nursing homes, home health care agencies, religious institutions, hospitals, or schools. Those offering the elder care can NOT monitor medications. More practically they give pills the family provides each time they drop them off. Imagine you can’t have two main sources and storage sites for the medications if so each person would get two prescriptions for each medication.
In fact the medications remain at home and the family drop off a days’ worth of pills the Adult Day Care givers but Adult Day Care does not coordinate medications as they sometime imply. Other things both ADC and residential care homes offer include meals and snacks, perform therapy, set up social activities, and establish transportation to and from the center.
Adult Day Care Facilities: Selecting the Right Facility
Other things to know about adult day care is when searching for the right adult day care center for you or your adored one, it’s important to note that there might be vast differences amongst centers, so you may wish to find out about each center close to you.
Also, before you choose the shorter term, less complete, choice of Adult Day Care consider a Residential Care Home that can grow with you as your care needs increase. If you want to bring a loved one home a few nights a week you can but you also have the choice with a residential care home to let your loved one stay overnight and get the added care they need.
