Celebrate National Adult Day Services Week 2017

National Adult Day Services Week is September 17-23, 2017
Celebrating Diversity in Adult Day Services

This special week has been celebrated annually since it was proclaimed on September 27, 1983, by former President Ronald Reagan.  The third complete week of September is set aside to raise awareness of the availability and accessibility of adult day programs nationwide.

Check out these resources and start planning ways to celebrate!

National Adult Day Services Week provides a terrific opportunity to showcase the services and programs provided to meet the needs and enhance the lives of participants through adult day services.  Tweet your activities. Use photos and links to increase engagement.  Add the hashtag #ADSWeek2017 to your tweets so that all NADSA followers can see them.

  • Consider highlighting employees and volunteers who make service delivery possible.
  • Interview and share stories with the media from families and participants who live better as a result of utilizing adult day services.
  • Tell how your center provides enhancement in programming – Doing well in Adult Day Services; implementing person-centered practices
  • Demonstrate how your center works well, e.g. fiscal wellness; board wellness; staffing wellness; investing in professional development; strategic planning to prepare for changing health care environment
  • Promote Self Care/Staff Care – Being well with unplugging; scheduled vacations; grief management for losses we experience; yoga/exercise/diet/meditation
  • Describe care for participants and care for their family caregivers – How ADS enhances life for both groups; How to assist family caregivers; serving diverse populations.
  • “Like” https://www.facebook.com/NationalAdultDayServicesAssociation

An example of how life is enhanced for family caregivers is evidenced by research published by Dr. Steven Zarit:  Recent Research Demonstrates Impact of Adult Day Services on Care Provider Wellness  demonstrating that family care providers showed lower stress levels on days when their family members attended adult day services. The study is also one of the first to demonstrate that interventions to lower stress on caregivers, such as the use of adult day care services, have an effect on the body’s biological responses to stress. We know that caregivers are at increased risk of illness, because of the long hours of care they provide and the high levels of stress.  These findings suggest that use of adult day care services may protect caregivers against the harmful effects of stress associated with giving care to someone with dementia.

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Marketing doesn’t just happen. You have to consciously and actively tell people about adult day services.