Survey of Adult Day Care in the United States

Abstract

Before attempting to understand how a relatively new treatment modality such as adult day care (ADC) works, it is useful to understand what it is. To this end, this article describes the structural characteristics of ADC centers and the characteristics of ADC users in the United States and across the four U.S. census regions. A 1986 national census survey of 1,347 ADC centers yielded 974 usable responses (72.3%). Findings indicated that there is great variability in characteristics of ADC across the country. In general, ADC's are well-staffed, well-linked to other agencies, and well-equipped. However, demand and enrollment appeared low. A need for improved oversight and staff in-service training was indicated for a substantial proportion of centers. These and other findings provide the most detailed and comprehensive national and regional descriptions of ADC available to date.