Adult Day Care

Adult day care (ADC) service centers should be built in our community to take care of elders during the day time when their family members are out at work or unable in pertaining necessary heed to the elders. Thus it is necessary to action in this regard. Services usually take place in their residences or in designated hospice residences or hospitals.

Hospice services consist of basic nursing heed, mental health counseling, homemaker and personal care help, plus pastoral care and spiritual counseling. In addition, physician-directed procedures are used to assist in pain control and acute or chronic system management.

II. Project Description

A. Introduction

With a heart full of sun drenched reminiscences of his golden times of yore, when a person steps into the dusky horizon of old age, after traveling through all crests and troughs of life, he seeks a peaceful shelter to stay for the rest of his life. Parents or guardians when capable, bring up their children, provide them food, education and fulfill all their basic needs.

Therefore it also becomes the responsibility of the young to take care of their parents or guardians when they grow old.  There are elderly people, who entertain intensive care and affection from their families, but there also exist elderly persons who either do not have anybody in their family to pay attention to them or their family members are too busy to do so. Such elderly people can take the help of Adult day care services.

B. Rationale and Significance:

1. Definition of the problem

Old age brings with it chronic diseases, intolerable pain, frustrating incapability, never ending solitude, etc. Though, it can become a peaceful shelter with care and affection of family and friends. But being a primary caregiver for an elder can be a difficult job.

Matters like Bathroom Safety, pain management, proper nutritional care, special care for elders living with Incontinence, etc have to be always kept in mind. All these are not so easy for a busy person. The hours are time-consuming and it can be a wearisome and anxiety-provoking duty, for even the most enduring person.

2. Background of the Problem

In this dynamic world, that is moving from progress to greater progress, in an endless motion people are compelled to devote most of their time to their work and social life. Thus people are unable to dedicate the necessary time and care to the elders. Establishment of Adult day care (ADC) can prove to be a cost-effective way out to a loved one’s care requirements during the daytime.

Adult day care (ADC) services, with all modern medical equipments and techniques, endow with daytime care for feeble elders and aged people with disabilities in form of a group termed as adult day care center. Services may differ depending on the requirements of the people served.

3. Need for a Solution

As a result there is a specific need for solution to this problem. With varying routine of care, ADCs serve its members with wide range of social, health, recreational, medical care, or rehabilitation to persons with chronic diseases or disabilities. Thus, it is necessary to comprehend what echelon of care can exactly meet the needs of the person to be admitted.

4. There will be weekly evaluations done

As corruption and unnecessary delay are common practices, which easily becomes part of any organization, weekly evaluations of the performance of the Adult day care (ADC) service centers should be done by government personnel, such as government doctors, food inspectors, health department representatives, etc, to provide the best of care to the elders of the community.

5. Benefits from the solution

Adult day care put forward a dual benefit for elders and their families. Participants can get benefited from socialize with fellow members and receiving desired care services. Caregivers can also get benefited by getting a break from care giving responsibilities during the day time while being well convinced that a loved one is in good hands and they do not have to worry for them. Adult day care (ADC) services take profound care of their members.

6. Feasibility of the solution

ADCs are becoming more and more popular these days. More than 4,000 ADCs currently function in the U.S only and most of them are nonprofit programs. These ADCs acquire specialization in a particular populace or echelon of care, establishing qualification on one’s diagnosis or purposeful status and occasionally on age. Thus ADC can come up as a gainful system to meet the care requirements of elders in our community during the daytime.

C. Plan of work:

A. Scope

With government subvention, support and direction, donations and assistance from non government or non profit or public welfare organizations, funds collected from residents of the community, and with their voluntary assistance Adult day care (ADC) service centers can be establisher in the community.

B. Methods

Adult day care is a term generally used to portray different categories of adult day care services. Most of the ADCs services serve to older adults where as some may specialize in taking care of  younger adults with disabilities, or those with developmental disabilities. Different adult day care foundations use different terms to describe their services.

Though the programs may in names, three most widespread types of ADCs are social day care, adult day health care, and dementia day care. The social day care form offers a gentle environment for persons without particular health care requirements.

Activities usually comprise socialization with other members, group activities which are ethnical and specially designed for the aged, such as, current proceedings, singing or games, therapeutic activities and meals, personal care support, etc.

C. Task breakdown

The adult day health care (ADHC) form helps persons with an array of health, rehabilitative, social and mental health requirements, often relating a physician’s assessment and recommendation. Nursing and health care services are offered on the program, such as help with medications, health monitoring, physical therapy, occupational therapy, incontinence care and speech therapy, etc.

The aim of ADHC is to reinstate or maintain a member’s best possible functioning. AS ADHC is more medically designed, licensed organizations may be paid back by Medicaid for making it available to low-income members. The dementia day care program specializes in helping persons with Alzheimer’s disease, or other such challenging conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, stroke, etc.

Dementia day care aims at preventing early institutionalization of persons with dementia and to endow with a break for family caregivers. Specialized programs proffer suitable activities for those who are suffering with confusion or memory loss, such as music or art, reminiscence, therapeutic activities in a harmless, secure surrounding with proper care and staff-to-participant proportion.

Staffs with experience and training in dementia care, behavior management strategies, and communication techniques are appointed in Dementia day care. Along with the above models few more models of ADC are also available these days, such as Living board and care model, Independent living centers, Hospice care and Respite care. The Living board and care model consists of smaller group homes which endow with concern for seniors and feeble elders have several names.

D. Time and work schedule

A hospice team associate is on-call 24-hours to provide advice or assistance with an emergency. Hospice clients obtain services in accordance with an individualized plan of service. A social worker is usually charged with supporting the patient and family and in helping the care team in working efficiently with the family.

Respite care is formed to alleviate caregivers of their everyday jobs. Some Adult Day Health Centers even organize transportation facilities. Home health agencies can also enter the field to provide assistance by introducing a homemaker or home health assistant.  Moreover, home health organization can arrange for round the clock care and over night care.

E. Problem Analysis

Depending on where one resides, they could be termed as board and care homes, assisted living, personal care, adult group homes, adult foster care, boarding care homes or adult family homes. These dwellings proffer room and board in a small home like atmosphere, usually accommodating about 10 persons or less. They are often positioned in residential vicinity and provide a less professional substitute to trained nursing facilities of nursing homes or hospitals.

As these homes do not provide medically-prescribed skilled nursing facilities, they usually can not be paid back by Medicaid. Some states provide licensing supplies for board and care homes which control services, staffing, facility environment and reimbursement. Alternate means of paying back such as supplemental security income – SSI are also accepted for low-income members.

Independent living centers (ILCs) are usually private charitable community-based institutions which grant services and advocacy to persons with all sorts of disabilities. The majority are also consumer-controlled by persons with disabilities. The importance is on helping persons to maximize their prospective and live as autonomously as feasible in the community.

The expansion of ILCs develops from the disability rights movement where persons with disabilities fought to recover their independence and reduce the requirements for institutional care. ILCs often make use of their constituencies to promote the rights of individuals with disabilities at the local, state, and national levels.

Issues include admission to public buildings such as government buildings, restaurants, movie theaters, restrooms, parks, disabled parking and public transportation, and housing. They may be implicated in raging war against discrimination in the place of work and promoting employment prospects for citizens with disabilities, as well as engaging in avenues to increase health care exposures, contact to medical specialists and enduring care services.

ILCs recruit staffs having knowledge on public reimbursements such as Medicaid, disability insurance, etc. Additionally, some ILCs also offer support groups, workshops, or instruction. Hospice services provide palliative care for persons with terminal sickness in the last stages of life and their families.

Hospice coalesce medical, emotional, social and spiritual support to ease the dying person and his family and maintain dignity at the end-of-life. Services are dispensed through the involvement of physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists and volunteers.

F. Likelihood of Success

Respite care intends to ease the stress allied with care giving. Respite care can also be an unofficial arrangement, where acquaintances of the elder or another family member does the care giving duties for a few hours or a few days a week.  Adult Day Health Centers, Respite Centers, Senior Centers, and Skilled Nursing Facilities also offer respite care.

Skilled nursing facilities that offer short-term respite are also available for the clients who require nursing care. Thus it becomes necessary to choose which services are to be provided in the ADC service center to meet our requirements and also fit within our budget. Once all these elements are analyzed and evaluated and implemented in accordance to plan there is no reason that the plan would ever fail. Thus likelihood of success is guaranteed.

D. Facilities and Equipment:

An Adult day care (ADC) service center having ultra modern equipments, well experienced and proficient doctors and nurses, surplus supply of medicines other stuffs, etc, required for instant diagnosis and proper treatment, should be formed in the community.

A total carpet area of 3000 to 3500sqfts is required where there would be at least 8 to 10 rooms. Additionally there would be gardens or vast open areas. Modern medical equipments such as X-ray machines, CT scan, Ultra Sonography, ECG, Pace makers and other important instruments would be installed. Arrangements should be made to provide necessary and instant medical treatment to the elders in case of emergencies.

III. Personnel Qualifications:

Qualified physiotherapists, psychiatrists, yoga trainers etc should be appointed to endow with spiritual heal along with physical and mental fitness to the elders. Nutritionists and center supervisors can also be appointed to administer the workings in the center, so as to provide proper healthy food and maintain hygiene of the center.

IV. Budget:

Establishment of an Adult day care (ADC) service center accommodating at least a hundred members in it and providing all aforementioned facilities require a large area of about 3000 to 3500sqfts, having at least 8 to 10 rooms with gardens or vast open areas.  This may cost approximately $122000 to $134000.

Costs of modern medical equipments such as X-ray machines, CT scan, Ultra Sonography, ECG, Pace makers and several other devices can be all together rounded up to $490000 to $580000. Remunerations of doctors, nurses and other employees together calculated makes near about $8000 to $12200 per month.

Along with these disbursements expenses on purchase of food and medicines, payments of electricity bills, telephone bills, taxes, etc also have to be considered.  (Roy, 2006)

V. Urge to Action:

By and large people feel unenthusiastic to use adult day care services for the reason that they give the unknown impression, or since a loved one is tentative to endeavor something untried. Knowledge about Adult day care (ADC) services has to be made available to them. Some people, who are economically not so sound, may ADC expensive to use. Some concessions and relaxation in fees should be provided to them.

VI. Appendix

Old age never comes alone. It brings with it chronic diseases, intolerable pain, frustrating incapability, never ending solitude, etc. Thus the journey in the twilight of life becomes a painful hell. Old age can become a peaceful shelter with care and affection of family and friends.

Adult day care (ADC) services lend a helping hand to both the elder and their family. It relives from the pressure and monotone of taking care of their loved ones, at the same time endowing with the best care to the elder. Thus Official Proposal for Adult Daycare program in the Community is seriously needed.

Reference:

Roy, S; (2006) List of Instruments with Price; Medical Collage Equipment Handout- Year 2006; Kolkata Medical Collage. Kolkata: Universal Press