Most parents don’t think twice about taking their child to a child-care center when they have to go to work, run errands or need a respite.

Years later, there’s often a reversal of circumstances when that child becomes an adult who has to go to work or run errands while caring for a parent, and is in need of a place to take the parent for the day.

But where?

That’s what Marla Jewell wanted to know.

Jewell’s 84-year-old mother, Mary Scribner, was home alone during the day. Jewell, 57, says her mother was receiving phone calls from people requesting private information.

Not knowing what to do and needing a place to take her mother – who is in good health – during the day, Jewell began researching adult day-care centers. She discovered Sarah Care Adult Day Care, 2402 Beacon St., across the street from a child-care center.

“I had never heard of an adult day-care center until my brother-in-law had a stroke and he went to one,” says Jewell, who moved back into her childhood home to care for her mother when she is not at Sarah Care. “This is really good for her, and it’s better than her being home alone. She likes being around people.

“These centers are a great idea. There are seniors home alone and people try to take advantage of them. She’s been coming here for six weeks and she is more aware of her physical self and has been taking better care of herself. When I pick her up, she has something to talk about. Our conversations haven’t always been that easy.”

According to the Washington, D.C.-based National Adult Day Services Association – an independent organization focused on the adult day-care industry – adult day-care centers began about 20 years ago with 300 centers nationwide in hospitals, senior centers and private businesses.

Sarah Mashburn, association spokeswoman, says adult day-care centers provide respite for caregivers of adults suffering from Alzheimer’s, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, mental illness, HIV/AIDS and vision and hearing impairments. Adults at the centers receive care in a protected facility during the day.

The mission of adult day-care centers is to supply care for adults who need services and to support caregivers who want to keep a family member at home.

“These centers are for people who do not need to go to a nursing home, but they can’t stay at home by themselves,” says Margaret Wallace, family/caregiver director for Aging and In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana.

Wallace says the private social-service organization has served seniors and people with disabilities since 1974.

“They are safe. They are very, very good. As the senior population continues to grow rapidly and more people want to stay at home, there will be a bigger need for services like this,” Wallace says.

Like child-care centers, adult day-care centers operate weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The average daily cost is $56, which can be paid privately or through government programs such as Medicaid.

The Division of Aging for Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration has implemented a new program named Options. The program gives seniors receiving Medicaid benefits several alternatives to living in a nursing home, such as adult foster care, adult day care and assisted living. Considering a “loved one’s whole view” of how he should be cared for, not where he lives, concerns John August, administrator of Woodview Health Care, a Fort Wayne nursing home.

“We have no opposition to adult day care. It is another choice to take care of loved ones,” August says. “The situation you have to look at (with adult day care) is what happens the other hours they need to be taken care of? I think (adult day care is) a great way of caring for someone who may not need nursing-home care yet. But there may come a time when they need more care than adult day care can provide, but other than that we have no opposition to them.”

Tina Williams is responsible for getting adults involved with activities at Sarah Care.

To challenge them mentally and keep them alert, Williams says she starts each day by “asking what’s going on in Fort Wayne? I ask them to tell me what’s going on. We want to keep them active and involved. When they are home alone, they are isolated and watch TV. Here, there is socialization and they feel good about who they are and what they are doing.”

Scribner says, “I come here about five days a week. I like to cross-stitch when I am here and sit at the ladies’ table and talk. We have a good time. I never met anyone here I didn’t like.”

In addition to Sarah Care, founded in 1985 in Canton, Ohio, Fort Wayne’s other adult day-care center is A Day Away, a non-profit business at 2000 Wells St. in the YWCA building.

Yet, two adult day-care centers may not be enough for the local population, especially when the need for the centers continues to increase as the elderly population increases, says an executive of one of the two centers.

“When we started this a little more than four years ago, we knew this was something Fort Wayne needed. We started off renting the first floor with two rooms and a little less than 1,500 square feet of space,” says Stephanie Stilabower, executive director of A Day Away, which serves 10 to 13 adults daily

She and Becky Armstead started A Day Away after reading a Reader’s Digest story about adult-care services in Maine.

“We now have more than 3,000 square feet and are looking to expand and get transportation so we can drop off and deliver the adults. That would take more stress off a caregiver,” says Stilabower, who has 25 years of experience as a licensed practical nurse.

“The need for this continues to grow. One weekend each month, we have a respite weekend and they can come spend the night so the caregivers can have a night out or stay home and take a breath.”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Wake Forest School of Medicine recently financed the first-ever study on adult day-care services, which showed that there are 3,407 adult day-care centers in the United States. Yet, more than 8,500 centers are needed to meet the needs of aging baby boomers – the oldest boomers turn 60 this year – who are being cared for by other boomers or members of Generation X.

Since 1970, the population of adults 65 and older has increased from 9.9 percent to 12.4 percent, and life expectancy is 77.9 years. The U.S. is expected to have a total population of 300 million people by this fall.

As a result, Mashburn says that as more adults age, live longer and decide to stay at home rather than move into a nursing home, not only will the need for more centers increase, but adult care will also benefit those who have placed their lives on hold to become full-time caregivers.

“People need to work and some can’t give up their jobs to be a full-time caregiver,” Mashburn says. “There are more than 22 million Americans who provide care for someone over 50. Not working isn’t an option for everyone. You just can’t quit a full-time job and become a full-time caregiver.

“Adult day care is an affordable alternative to nursing homes. Adult day care meets the social and medical needs of the people there. There are skilled nurses and qualified individuals working there.”

It can also increase the life expectancy of caregivers, says Barbara M. Porter, executive director of Sarah Care.

“Most people aren’t aware that due to the physical and mental stress involved with being a caregiver, 80 percent of caregivers die before the patient, and that’s a big deal,” she says.

A good quality of life is what Mary Thomas, a local attorney, desired for her mother, Wilda Black, when she began taking her to A Day Away.

Although Thomas’ mother now lives in an assisted-living facility, Thomas is still concerned about the quality of life and care that seniors receive.

As a result, a bulk of Thomas’ law practice since 1997 has been devoted to addressing elderly issues and making sure more people know the difference adult day-care centers can make.

“We need to be prepared for this. People are going to age, and aging doesn’t come easy,” says Thomas, who has an office at A Day Away. “I want to increase the public’s awareness about these facilities. Not everyone has someone who can stay at home and care for them all day long. The thing is we don’t talk about aging and dying. There’s a stigma when a person has Alzheimer’s and their brain is slowly dying. That is a horrible, terrible death.
“We need people out there talking about this. Before I brought my mom here, my life had become hers. I was not able to work and couldn’t get much done outside the house.

“When she was here, I was able to resume work part time and get some things done. At the assisted-living facility, I can stop in and visit with her and do the things she enjoys; not doing the necessities of life with her like bathing her and feeding her. Now, I really enjoy my mother’s company, and that’s how it should be.

“Someday, I’ll be older. We will all be older, and we need to have these services already in place.”
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Finding day care 

Adult day-care centers provide a structured setting for people with Alzheimer’s and disabilities. They allow caregivers to have a brief time away from caregiving.

•Consult a variety of sources; visit several times before making a selection and consider whether the center can provide the care you need. You may be better off at a nursing home.
•Evaluate the services being offered and whether they meet your needs.
•Consider the cost of adult day care. Some caregivers pay according to their ability or income. In some states, Medicaid covers costs for people with very low income and few assets.
•Make sure the center’s location is convenient to you and the person needing care.
•Evaluate the center’s overall appearance, the quality of facilities and the qualifications of the staff. 

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