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Adult
Day Care Becoming Popular with Older People
By:
Brooke Adams
The
Salt Lake Tribune March 03, 2003
There are obvious clues
to the quality of an adult day center, according to Sonia Salari, an
assistant professor of family and consumer studies at the University of
Utah.
Here are some things she suggests
family members or caregivers look for:
* Use of nicknames or patronizing
terms. Do staff members refer to clients by such terms as kiddo, good boy
or honey rather than by first name? Is there use of childish words, such
as "potty?" Do staff members use "baby talk" voices?
* Childish decorations, use of toys.
Does the center look like a place for children or adults? Are activities
appropriate for children rather than adults?
* Privacy violations. Are clients
treated with respect, dignity and sensitivity regarding private matters
such as medical conditions and need for help in the bathroom? In the
bathroom, are toilets private?
* Signs of friendship. Do clients
interact with each other or only with staff?
* Active participation. Are clients,
depending on capability, given productive roles -- for example, enlisted
to help set up lunch or activities?
* No decision making. Are clients given
the choice to opt out of an activity?
-- Brooke Adams%%Adult Day Programs
Statewide%% * Country Niche Adult Day Care, Clinton
* Garden Terrace Adult Day Care, Salt
Lake City
* Morgan Senior Activity Center, Orem
* Neighborhood House, Riverside Adult
Day Services
* Neighborhood House, Cottonwood Adult
Day Center, Salt Lake City
* Sunshine Terrace Adult Day Care
Center, Logan
* Turn Community Center, Cedar City
* Uintah County Adult Day Care, Vernal
* Christus St. Joseph Villa, Salt Lake
City
* Rest Easy Adult Day Care Inc.,
Ogden%%
The first decision Sandy Mott and Mindy
Cox made -- to let mom share their homes -- was easy.
It came after their father's death,
after an Alzheimer's fog began seeping into their mother's life, after it
became clear Lila Barker could not live on her own any longer.
The second decision was harder: What to
do once they became fearful about leaving Barker alone during the day
while they worked. A fridge full of prepared meals, a TV as a companion
and detailed notes were not enough to buy peace of mind.
She might eat breakfast and then,
minutes later, lunch. Open a can of corn and eat straight out of the tin.
Put something in the microwave long enough to turn it into a charred heap.
"You just didn't know," said
Mott, who lives in Lehi. "You could have come home to your house
burned down and the loss of your mother."
Just as worrisome, Barker -- once so
together as a homemaker, community leader and church member -- felt
useless sitting alone day after day, and said so.
The solution? Adult day care.
Mott and her sisters chose Neighborhood
House's Cottonwood Adult Day Center, one of 10 businesses in Utah offering
drop-in care for adults who might otherwise spend their days alone and in
possible danger. The facilities are one way many older Utahns who aren't
quite up to fully independent living are able to live at home -- whether
that means with a child, a more fit spouse, with a friend or alone.
Because of physical or mental
limitations, these adults need supervision and help with daily living
activities (meals, bathroom). They also benefit from meaningful,
programmed activities.
The centers also give caregivers a
break as well as freedom to work and take care of other business during
the day.
The oldest adult day center in Utah is
Neighborhood House's Riverside Adult Day Services, located adjacent to its
children's center. It opened its doors in 1978 with a single client.
Its current numbers reflect the aging
demographics of Utah and the nation; Riverside's program now attracts 36
to 40 adults a day.
"It really is a program that makes
so much sense," said Vicki Mori, director of Neighborhood House.
"It is one that you're going to see absolutely escalate over the next
10 years because the growth of older people in America is taking off in
leaps and bounds."
Consider this: The number of Utahns who
are 85 or older has increased 36 percent since 1990. And by the year 2007,
there will be more adults age 60 or older than elementary school-age
children in Utah, according to Salt Lake County Aging Services.
That trend is occurring nationally as
well and can be seen in the fact that adult day center services nearly
doubled between 1989 and 1997, to more than 4,000 centers.
"This is important because these
services are credited with preventing institutionalization," said
Sonia Salari, an assistant professor of family and consumer studies at the
University of Utah who is working on a book about adult day care.
Sunny Udell, head of the state's aging
services family caregivers support program, said Utah clearly is lagging
in providing adult day care, particularly in rural areas.
Currently there are an estimated 90
adult day care slots in Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties; only
Neighborhood House charges a sliding daily fee, based on the adult's
rather than the caregiver's income. That fee ranges from $15 to $36 a day.
Other facilities charge daily rates at the higher end of that scale.
It also offers door-to-door
transportation service, which is critical since some of its clients are
not able to navigate public transportation service.
The Cottonwood center, which opened
just six years ago, is a collaboration between Neighborhood House and the
Cottonwood Presbyterian Church. Neighborhood House needed expensive space
in the south valley to serve clients and the Presbyterian Church wanted to
make a difference in the community. The two missions melded, providing the
adult care program with low-cost space in the church's building on Vine
Street during the week.
Barker, 77, comes five days a week to
the Cottonwood center, joining more than a dozen other senior citizens
whose average age is 80. Most of the adults have short-term memory loss
due to age-related dementia. Some have physical limitations; others are
spry, if frail.
"I have to do something besides
sit there and tweedle my thumbs," said Ruth King, who is 80-something
and lives with a daughter in Park City. King comes to the center one or
two days a week.
A typical day starts off with a group
activity such as current events or "Raise Your Hand If" --
exercises geared mostly toward long-held memories, which tend to be
clearer for many people with age-related dementia. Some days there is tai
chi, other days chair exercises. There is a walking club, hallway bowling
and golf, visits from Intermountain Pet Therapy and arts and crafts
classes. And yes, some days they play bingo.
Mott credits the program with
transforming her mother into "a whole new person. She feels like she
is doing something. People here are her friends."
It didn't start out smoothly, though.
Mott said Barker was devastated the first time she was left at the center.
"She said 'I don't know these
people. They're old. They sit in chairs and sleep and I don't want
anything to do with these people,' " Mott said. "You couldn't
sit and reason with her because the minute the conversation was over, she
wouldn't have remembered it."
Mott kept bringing Barker to the
center, as she got to know people and felt useful, "it changed
everything."
Eighteen months later, Barker loves it.
Mott said her mom believes she works at the center, and that's just fine
with everybody.
"She thinks on Saturday morning
she's letting them down by not coming," Mott said.
Hours after Mott said that, her mom was
busily at work in the exercise class.
The music was soft, the movements
mostly slight. Kathy Hohl, who uses a wheelchair, arrived a few minutes
late and sat next to Barker.
"See that woman up there? Do what
she does," Barker said, directing Hohl's attention to the instructor
leading the exercise.
Hohl had troubled figuring out what was
supposed to go where.
Gently, Barker reached over, took her
hand and lifted to toward Hohl's shoulder.
"Honey, put your hands up to your
shoulders. Like this, honey," Barker said.
"I didn't have the nerve to tell
her I couldn't do it," Hohl said.
"Don't worry about it. You do what
you want to do," Barker said.%%Salt Lake County -
Ann Draper (right) belts it out during a
sing-a-long as Friedel Sharp catches a short nap. Music Therapist Maren
Ernstrom leads a group of seniors in an hour of sing-a-long at the
Cottonwood Presbyterian Church. Music time is one part of a day's
activities in the adult daycare program.
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