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Lack of Adult Day Care services

Study: Serious Lack of Services Available for Elderly Population

A new report published by Partners in Caregiving suggests there's a serious lack of adult day services presently available for elder Americans. The National Study of Adult Day Services says there are 60% fewer facilities providing adult day services than needed to meet current demand.

Adult day services are community-based group programs designed to meet the needs of functionally and/or cognitively impaired adults through an individual plan of care. These structured, comprehensive programs provide a variety of health, social, and other related support services in a protective setting during any part of a day, but less than 24-hour care.

Experts warn that the current lack of services, when combined with the rising senior population, will force Baby Boomers to make difficult decisions regarding the care of elderly friends and relatives.

As one solution, experts say that at least 5,000 adult day service centers should be built on top of the 3,400 that are currently in operation across the country.

The study was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. For more information about the study, and state and county level data, go to this link: http://www.rwjf.org/news/special/adultdayServicesReport.jhtm

In Virginia we need 146 new facilities, with only 24% of the current need being met.