Choices
A Maturing Option: Day Care for Seniors
Ruth Fishman, second from left, encourages Catherine English to join in a game at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Adult Day Health Center in Northwest.
(By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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Tuesday, July 12, 2005
When, in 2003, it became clear that Rebecca Lewis's 76-year-old mother could no longer live on her own, Lewis decided to take on the role of her full-time caregiver. But mom Minnie Covington's transition from North Carolina to Lewis's Northern Virginia home wasn't a smooth one.
Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Covington would "pack all of her clothes in a suitcase as many as six times a day, and say, 'I want to go home,' " reports Lewis. She was agitated and had trouble sleeping at night. Within months, Lewis, then 52, was frustrated and emotionally drained.
"I was totally exhausted," she says. "I told my husband, 'I have to do something.' "
Still, with her mother relatively young and physically healthy, a nursing home didn't seem the right option.
"She just needed guidance and stimulation," says Lewis.
Through a local Alzheimer's association, Lewis and her husband, Kevin, found their way to Mount Vernon Adult Day Health Care Center, one of five facilities run by the Fairfax County Health Department to provide day care for elderly and disabled adults.
"When I first heard of it, I'm thinking 'day care.' I'm thinking, 'They'll treat them like children,' " admits Lewis. "And I wanted so much for her to do something that would stimulate her."
But Lewis says her mother enjoyed the facility from the start. She, too, saw an immediate benefit.
"It allows me to do things for myself and not always concentrate on how I'm going to keep her busy," says Lewis, a stay-at-home mom. "Really, it's my lifeline and I feel like it's my mom's, too."
For Lewis and a growing number of others faced with caring for the elderly, the 3,500 to 4,000 adult day service facilities nationwide increasingly are an attractive option, allowing caregivers to keep a loved one living at home longer than they might otherwise, says Linda Velgouse, director of home and community-based services for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
Facilities range from social models similar to a senior citizens' center to medical models that offer social interaction along with medical monitoring. Most operate during regular business hours, although many now offer expanded hours and some even offer nighttime care.
Fueling the demand for such services is an aging population, a high number of caregivers who are also employed outside the home (about 60 percent) and an increase in individuals' access to funding to pay for such services, says Velgouse.
