When it comes to selecting the best care options for your aging loved one, it can get confusing. For example, while looking for day services for your senior, you may have come across different types of facilities: adult day care facilities and adult day health care acilities. By name alone, you may not be able to distinguish which type of care is best for your situation. This post will help you learn the differences and select the best option for your loved one.

When your loved one isn’t able to care for herself or to perform routine daily activities, she may need to be considered for an adult day care program, according to Daniel Kuhn, the author of “Alzheimer’s Early Stages: First Steps in Caring and Treatment.”

However, getting help with daily tasks is just one reason why many seniors and their families opt for adult day care services.

Caregiving for a parent, spouse, family member or friend is both wonderful and exhausting. What are you to do if you need to go to work, attend an appointment or simply take time for yourself? Adult day service is the perfect answer.

Adult day services are defined by National Adult Day Service Association as “coordinated programs of professional and compassionate services for adults in a community-based group setting. Services are designed to provide social and some health services to adults who need supervised care in a safe place outside the home during the day.”

Many families willingly turn their lives upside down in order to provide familial care for their loved ones, with Alzheimer’s disease. As a family caregiver, not only do you worry about leaving your loved ones with strangers they do not know, but you also worry about the quality of the care they receive when you are not there.  It’s very important to make sure someone is looking out for their best interests. However, no matter how much you love your aging loved one, there will come a point in your role as a family caregiver that you need a break from care giving.

 Adult Day Care is a life senior service for frail, physically or cognitively impaired, seniors and their caregivers. Numerous stand alone adult day care facilities and adult day care centers are available in urban and suburban areas to provide elderly care. Check your state here. A large percentage of Adult Day Care Centers are operated on a nonprofit or public basis. Many centers are affiliated with multi-service entities such as home care, assisted living, nursing facilities and hospitals.

 Before You Get Started: To be most effective, you should consider respite services much earlier than you think you will need them. Respite will be most helpful if you use it before you become exhausted, isolated, and overwhelmed by your responsibilities. Respite services can be beneficial, meaningful, and enjoyable to both the caregiver and the care receiver.

by Nancy Bryce
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Adult day care centers, also known as adult day centers, provide social, medical and emotional support for those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. They also afford the caregiver relief from exhausting responsibilities of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease. Many prefer the term "adult day center" in describing the program because "adult day care" implies the adult person with Alzheimer’s Disease is being cared for like a child.

It is important that we ask certain questions when looking for a day care facility. Below is a list of questions for you to think about when choosing day care.

Living to an old age isn’t much fun if you can’t remember anything. No matter what your age, you can protect your memory and keep your mind sharp with one habit: practice a mental exercise every day. Practice consistently, and by the end of the month, you will have a new brain-boosting habit that will pave the way for a long and memorable life!

Respite care is generally not covered by insurance or Medicare (Medicare exception: when the person is receiving hospice care). Most respite care is paid for directly by the client or family.  It may seem expensive to pay for respite care, but keep in mind that there are a variety of options for respite care and some resources to help.  Also, remember that rest for caregivers is a necessity.