Too often, adult day services are misunderstood as being just for older people. While the people who attend some centers are often older adults, disability is not limited to older adults. Adult day services support the health, nutritional, social, and daily living needs of adults in professionally staffed, group settings. Adult day services also benefit family caregivers by enabling them to remain in the workforce as well as providing them with direct services.
About Adult Day Services
Adult day centers offer a wide array of services to address the range of conditions and needs presented by participants and their caregivers. With more than 5,000 adult day services centers across the United States, adult day services are a growing source of long-term care. Adult day services centers serve as an emerging provider of transitional care and short-term rehabilitation following hospital discharge. Adult day programs are designed to help adults receive the services they need without having to reside in a long term care facility. Along with easier access to necessary support, adult day programs offer the opportunity to establish relationships and connections between those who attend adult day centers, their families and those who work in adult day centers. Connections and relationships are essential ingredients to overcoming loneliness and feelings of isolation, which can intensify the impact of disease and disability. The physical environment and the program design of adult day services provide safety and structure for participants. The center staff builds relationships and creates a culture that supports, involves, and validates the participant, which forms the framework in which therapeutic activities, health monitoring, and all the services offered by the center occur. All therapeutic components of adult day services (meals, activities, interactions with staff and other participants, personal care, nursing and therapies) are reinforced by the warm, caring affective tone of the center.
The National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA) has responded to growing demands among public and private funders that adult day services (ADS) be able to document effectiveness and value in the services they deliver. A document of suggested outcomes has been drafted that will provide reliable and valid markers of the effects of ADS on participants and their families. The results of the National Adult Day Services Outcome Project will be presented at the upcoming 2015 National Conference in Phoenix this October.
Learn from the Latest National Research
National Study of Long Term Care Providers
- Long-Term Care Providers and Services Users in the United States: Data From the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers, 2013–2014
- Long-Term Care Services in the United States: 2014 Overview State Web Tables and Maps
- Maps of selected characteristics of adult day services centers and participants in the United States: Data from the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers, 2013–2014
- Tables on Use of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchange among Adult Day Services Centers and Residential Care Communities from the 2012 and 2014 National Study of Long-Term Care Providers
- QuickStats: Percentages of Residential Care Communities and Adult Day Services Centers That Provided† Selected Services — United States, 2014
- QuickStats: Distribution of Long-Term Care Staffing Hours, by Staff Member Type and Sector — United States, 2014
MetLife National Study
National Adult Day Services Association
NADSA continues to be a key supporter in the development and promotion of the National Study of Long Term Care Providers (NSLTCP). This collaboration has been valuable in ensuring that NSLTCP captures the unique characteristics of adult day services centers and the important work they do in meeting the diverse needs of the nearly one-quarter million elderly and young disabled participants they serve each day (Long-Term Care Services in the United States: 2013 Overview, National Center for Health Statistics). NSLTCP is designed to collect information about the characteristics of adult day services centers, including the services they offer, participant fee revenue sources, staffing, and demographics and health status of the participants they serve. The information collected through NSLTCP is used to inform the CDC overview report on the major types of long-term care providers that include adult day services centers, assisted living and other residential care communities, home health agencies, nursing homes, and hospices.
Learn more about Long Term Services and Supports in the 2015 White House Conference on Aging Policy Brief.