Institute on Aging Study: Adult Day Health Care Improves Senior Participants’ Quality of Life

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A recent study by San Francisco’s Institute on Aging (IOA) documents that adult day health programs play a vital role in helping senior participants maintain their health and independence. Since the 1970s, adult day health care has been promoted as an alternative to nursing home care for seniors with chronic illness, disability, or dementia. There are currently 4,600 adult day health centers operating in the United States, but little scientific research demonstrating their impact on the health of senior participants.

“We know that day programs make good fiscal sense for California”

The IOA research team followed attendees of 16 San Francisco adult day health centers and comparable older adults who did not attend a day center. After one year, the day center participants reported significantly fewer problems with regular daily activities than the individuals who did not attend a day center. They also perceived an increase in their quality of life, which numerous researchers believe can result in better health, reduced health care utilization, and reduced mortality.

Adult day health programs provide seniors living in the community with transportation to non-residential facilities where they receive health services, nutritious meals, and social activities as many as five days per week, helping to prevent premature institutionalization and freeing family caregivers to work or attend to errands.

Day programs are much less expensive than nursing home care. Nevertheless, in California, the 300 adult day health centers throughout the State are routinely targeted for cutbacks or elimination through Medi-Cal, a state version of Medicaid that underwrites long-term health care for low-income residents. Providers of adult day health services hope that IOA’s study will strengthen the case for continued funding of the programs.

“We know that day programs make good fiscal sense for California,” asserts Cindy Kauffman, Vice President of Operations at IOA and a leading advocate for adult day health programs, “This study shows that day centers also make good sense for older Californians who simply need some help to continue living in their own homes despite the challenges of aging in place. We hope that the Governor and the Legislature make it their priority to see that these programs remain part of the State’s strategy for caring for our aging population.”

This important study was funded with generous support from a number of leading foundations, including the Archstone Foundation, The California Endowment, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr., Fund, Hearst Foundation, Jerome H. & Sylvia Cherin Trusts, Koret Foundation, Mount Zion Health Fund, Retirement Research Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, and the San Francisco Adult Day Services Network. Full results will be published in an upcoming issue of The Gerontologist, a publication of the Gerontological Society of America and one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the field of Gerontology.

Incorporated in 1985, IOA is a nonprofit provider of community-based health and social services designed to help seniors maintain their independence and avoid premature institutionalization. The organization serves 20,000 clients annually through a variety of programs that include adult day health centers. In the fall of 2010, IOA will open the Senior Campus, an innovative new facility that combines its services with 150 apartments for low-income seniors.

Institute on Aging (IOA) is a community-based, not-for-profit organization that touches the lives of thousands of seniors in San Francisco, Marin, and the Peninsula. IOA's service mission is to enhance the quality of life for our diverse community of adults as they age. Our breadth of services enable elders in the San Francisco Bay Area to maintain their health, well-being, independence, and participation in the community. In our 25+ years of serving the Bay Area, IOA has developed and provided innovative programs in health, social service, creative arts, spiritual support, education, and research.