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Day Care Programs Spell Fun
for Seniors
By Mara Anglen, Staff Writer
Whether you’re seeking respite from long hours of caregiving, need
someone to care for a loved one while you’re at work, or any other
reason, adult day care can be a much-needed option for caregivers.
Primarily, there are three types of adult day care:
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Social care: Provides social activities, meals,
recreation, and some health-related services.
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Heath care: Provides more intensive medical, therapeutic
and social services for people with severe medical problems and for those at risk of needing nursing home care.
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Alzheimer’s care: Provides social and medical services
ONLY to those persons with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia.
According to Edith Lederberg, executive director of the Aging
and Disability Resource Center of Broward County, adult day care is
a vital service for both caregivers and the frail elderly. The
facility’s McArthur Adult Day Care Center,
which is funded primarily with Federal Older Americans Act money and
a mandated local match of 10 percent with city and county funds, has
no set fee for its clients.
However, they are encouraged to contribute something, Lederberg
said. Those monies go directly back into the Fort Lauderdale center
to help expand services. Meals on Wheels visits to provide lunch,
and clients or their families are encouraged to give money towards
that, she explained.
Right now, the center has openings, Lederberg said. Day care
programs are a win-win for all concerned, she said.
At another center, socialization is the key objective, too. Alan Beyda, co-owner of family-run Sarah Care Adult Day Care Center in
Coral Springs, wants to provide a loving, caring atmosphere that
keeps seniors busy and interacting.
“We do not just let them watch TV all day and sit.
We individualize the program for each participant,” Beyda said. “We
offer exercises, singing, dancing,
intergenerational activities (we partner up with the JCC preschool,
which is right next door), arts and crafts room, men’s club room,
beauty salon and square-foot gardening. These are just a few of the
fun things.”
The new center, which will be open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6
p.m., is slated to open in mid-November. Rates will be per-hour and
based on a needs assessment for each client, Beyda explained.
Medicaid, most long-term
health insurance, Veterans Administration benefits and, of course,
private pay will be accepted.
From a health-care standpoint, the center will accept
participants with various medical issues including physical
impairments, Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia, stroke,
Parkinson’s disease, and incontinence. A registered nurse, licensed
practical nurse, and activity and social directors will be on staff, Beyda said.
In addition, enrollment in day care often prevents premature
nursing home admissions, Lederberg said.
At the ADRC center and many other facilities, enrollees need a
doctor’s note saying they can participate. (This safeguards both the
client and the day care.) And by law, adult day care providers must
have a nurse on duty, Lederberg added.
“They (clients) can be frail, but not incontinent – people who
need perpetual oversight, though,” she said.
When caregivers consider day care, they worry most about whether
their loved one will eat and how they will socialize, Lederberg
explained.
“They’ll (clients) do all sorts of activities, like arts and
crafts that accommodate them,” Lederberg said. “Even 90-somethings
can do great knitting and sewing, for instance.”
And games often can be inventive, such as taking a balloon,
blowing it up and kicking it around the room with each other – fun
and exercise in one activity. Whatever the game or activity, day care programs serve a vital
purpose, Lederberg explained. “It frees the caregiver to do what they need to do and gives the
frail elder a chance to socialize with others
...It’s a place to tell their stories to people who haven’t heard
them 100 times.”
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