FCRP Policy Statement

Adult Day Care (ADC) is one source of respite for Michigan families caring for relatives with Alzheimer's Disease at home. However, according to the findings of the Family Care Research Project at Michigan State University, many families perceive barriers to the use of ADC and other families do not believe they need ADC services. Based on a survey of 182 Michigan families caring for relatives with Alzheimer's Disease, we identified the following barriers to use of Adult Day Care:

80% of the family caregivers participating in the study stated that they were not current users of Adult Day Care. Three general reasons reported by caregivers for not using ADC were:*

• no perceived need for ADC
• patient factors that influence using ADC (e.g., resistance, limitations such as immobility)
• barriers to finding or using the service.

*Note: Multiple responses were possible. A total of 139 valid cases reported 176 responses.

The graph reflects the total number of responses, not total number of cases. Caregivers not using ADC reported the following barriers: inconvenience, lack of availability, lack of information, lack of help arranging service, and cost/no insurance coverage. A small number of miscellaneous responses were reported, including: transportation, distance, no time/other priorities, poor quality of service, ADC refused to provide service to client. 76% of current and past users of ADC rate the service as very important in the care of their relative with Alzheimer's Disease, 22% are satisfied, 4% are dissatisfied, and 1% are very dissatisfied with ADC.

Policy Implications

To become a viable source of long-term care, Adult Day Care providers may need to: overcome inconvenience barriers, including hours of operation and transportation; become more widely available; develop a linkage system between potential users and the system; remove financial barriers; consider program modifications that will reduce patient factors as reasons for not using ADC.

This research supported by grant # RO1 MH41766, "Impact of Alzheimer's Disease on Family Caregivers," funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and grant #PRG-89-098, "Perceptions of Community Services by Alzheimer's Caregivers."