As health care costs continue to rise and as the size of our state’s aging population increases, it is time to focus on ways to take care of our state’s older citizens in a safe, respectful, and cost efficient manner.  Community long term care (CLTC) is an important piece in this effort, and one of the best tools in the CLTC tool box is adult day services.
Adult day service centers provide a coordinated program of professional and compassionate services for adults in a community-based group setting.
Services are designed to provide social and some health services to adults who need supervised care in a safe place outside the home during the day. They also afford caregivers respite from the demanding responsibilities of care giving.
Adult day centers generally operate during normal business hours five days a week. Some programs offer services in the evenings and on weekends. Although each facility may differ in terms of features, most adult day centers provide social interaction, transportation, meals and snacks, personal care, and therapeutic activities.
The most recent nationwide survey of adult day centers confirmed over 3,400 centers operating in the United States providing care for 150,000 recipients each day. Nearly 78 percent of adult day centers are operated on a non-profit or public basis, and the remaining 22 percent are for profit.
Seventy percent of adult day centers are affiliated with larger organizations such as home care, skilled nursing facilities, medical centers, or multi-purpose senior organizations.  
The average age of the adult day center care recipient is 72, and two-thirds of all adult day center care recipients are women. Thirty-five percent of the adult day center care recipients live with an adult child, 20 percent with a spouse, 18 percent in an institutional setting, and 13 percent with parents or other relatives, while 11 percent live alone.  Fifty-two percent of the adult day center care recipients using adult day services centers nationwide have some cognitive impairment.
These statistics point to a need for adult day and illustrate the ways in which every family structure can benefit from these services.
We are fortunate to have a solid adult day program in our state.  That is one of the many reasons we are pleased to be a part of recognizing National Adult Day Services week in South Carolina.

Lt. Governor Bauer heads the Office on Aging and works daily to improve services for our state’s senior population.
Ms. Moore, a director of the 11-facility Active Day organization, is also president of the SC Adult Day Services Association, a statewide advocacy association dedicated to improving health care access for our state’s aging and disabled population.