I have volunteered in several adult day care centers, and have seen the activities that are provided. It was a great experience for me. I would like to share with you my experiences at the adult day centers, and a few tips for caregivers to follow when seeking one out.
Adult day centers provide relief for caregivers. Your loved ones are supervised the entire day to ensure safety. They are all about physical routines and socialization skills.
I remember one day quite clearly. We built a gingerbread house. It was so much fun. The clients loved it. I think they may have enjoyed eating the candies more, but everyone was smiling. We sat down for lunch. (Adult day centers should be prepared for helping clients.) After lunch, one client would play the piano. This was his daily routine and the other clients really enjoyed it. It was a sad song, but he was so happy that he could play that one song. The clients knew this, so he played and played and played.
Another day was quite upsetting. We (clients and myself) had just finished eating lunch and were getting ready to reminisce. One client walked by me and looked at my shirt. The shirts we were required to wear had the word Alzheimer's on it. The man stopped and asked, "Why do I have that?" as he pointed to that word. There is a misconception that a person with dementia can't read. What do you say to someone? I looked at him, and he just put his head down and walked away.
Tips:
1. Research, research, and more research. Don't settle.
2. When you look at different day care centers, ask the staff what they do or say to a person that asks what he has or why he has it. If your loved one does not know, you will want to let the day center's coordinator to know. There's a conflict about whether or not the person with dementia has the right to know. I will be focusing on this issue in a future article. If you have a view on this subject, please let me know. I would love to include them in my article.
3. When you call about day centers, ask if you can come by the center and see what it is like. Keep a mental note of how many clients are there, and observe their activity levels. If your loved one is quite active, you may not want to place your loved one in a less-active crowd. The idea is to enhance your loved one's physical ability.
