Adult Day Care

By Karan Minnis, The Nassau Guardian  

September 15, 2008

The Bahamas

Despite years of working hard and creating a home for herself, 84-year-old Sarah Jones still has only two children to count on — her daughter Jeanette, 54, and her son Michael, 56. Both Jeanette and Michael are married with families of their own, but like good children they still look out for their mother. 
However as she aged Sarah developed Alzheimer's and can no longer live alone. This is why she has moved in with Jeanette, who works full time. 

For many families in The Bahamas stories such as these are becoming routine. Most families are now faced with this challenge as more and more of the elderly are becoming disabled and need extra care. But while sons and daughters are willing to assist in any way they can, they are still plagued with the problem of finding daytime care for their parents. To solve this, people like Jeanette turn to Adult Day Care Centers. 

"It was my only option," she says. "It's too costly to pay someone to come in during the day and I don't trust people easily. If I were able to stay home with her I would, but that's impossible with the cost of living and I have a family to take care of. 

"But anyway she seems to enjoy Day Care," says Jeanette. "When she's there she gets to be around others and have fun at the same time." 

And according to Sister Cecilia Albury, the director of St. Joseph's Adult Day Care located on Boyd Road, Adult Day Care is not just fun. It's also safe. 
"Here at St Joseph's we cater to adults ages 60 and above who are able to move even if it must be with a walking stick. Right now we do have a person that's blind but to add for the extra services her fee is a little more than others," she says. "We are open from 8 a.m. until 6 in the evenings and during that time we have activities for the participants and meals. Included in our activities are craft, a prayer service in the morning, exercises, bingo, and coloring. When we come in at eight we start our prayer service and after our prayer service we have a snack where the participants will get tea and fruits or whatever we have in the mornings for them. Then they do exercises using a ball and stretches. 

"We find that a lot of the people love to watch the Price is Right, so they get an opportunity to watch the Price is Right, then they do drawings and coloring. They love to color. After this we have a main meal. For example we may give them mashed potatoes and beets. Then they love to watch Matlock but on Wednesdays we have bingo where they get little prizes and things they can use like cups, saucers, toothpaste and soaps. The prizes are things that they would be able to make use of. By this time it's afternoon and the participants would get to rest just before their families come to get them and take them home. That happens anywhere around 4 to 6 p.m., but by this time they would have had a good time, giving everyone, them included, a break from just being at home." 
Adding that the majority of in home care providers for physically or cognitively disabled adults are family members, generally an adult child or a spouse, Sister Albury says that without in home care many disabled adults would require care in nursing homes. 

"But while family caregivers are valuable to our economy, the families often need additional help in caring for a loved one because caregiving can take an enormous toll both financially and physically," she says. "So adult day care can provide needed breaks from caregiving and may reduce the need for nursing home care. That's what we do here. Right now we have 12 people that come to us and the oldest one is 90. She will actually be 91 in December and she's the life of the party." 

According to a 2000 census there are over 3,000 adult day centers operating in the United States, serving primarily people with dementia and the frail elderly who do not have dementia. However experts suggest that more than 5,000 new centers will be needed in the next few years to cope with aging baby boomers that will need care. And according to Sister Albury more of such centers will be needed in short order here in The Bahamas. 

"In the Bahamas we have the same problems," she says. "As more and more people age the need for services like this is just going to increase and that's because most children, wives and husbands, are out working and they don't want to leave their older family member or loved ones at home alone, especially with all the crime that's happening. So they will have to bring them to places like here." 

Noting that adult day care is a viable low cost way of keeping individuals who are in need of extra care at home, in the community, with family and friends for as long as possible, Sister Albury says that most centers are open Monday through Friday during the day and give relief to caregivers during those hours. 
"Its all about fulfilling a need," she says. "That's what the church has done." 
Sister Albury says that the Center, which was created in 2004 by the parish, has grown. 

"In 2004 St Joseph parishioners checked around and found that there were many elderly persons just staying at home doing nothing. So they took some kind of census and they found that there were a number of persons in the parish who would make use of this kind of program and created one. But upon its creation the people from St Joseph's parish were not the people who came, instead we had people from all over. The first person who came was from Holy Family and then we had one from St Thomas More, even non-Catholics. Then over the years, the numbers, which stood at four for just about a year, started to grow from four to six, then to eight. Now we have people from all over, not just from St Joseph's and not just Catholics. Just today I had two or three calls from people wanting to bring their parents because they don't want to leave them home with no one there. People see this as a safe haven and it is. 

"Adult Day Care centers, especially one offered by the church are inexpensive," she adds. "Here at St Joseph's its just $30 for parishioners and $60 for non-parishioners. We have a staff of four that includes a nurse and a cook with additional volunteers, so we are fully staffed, and I'm sure that the other centers are not that much more. But that's not the point. The point is that there are options when dealing with the elderly. People shouldn't see them as a burden because they have feelings too, and instead of just keeping them at home, bring them here or to places like here, where they can be safe and enjoy themselves."

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