Goals and Activities in Adult Day Services Programs

The elderly commonly suffer from multiple losses of loved ones, as well as of physical health, financial security, employment, and other time-structured activities, leading to decreased self-esteem and grief.

The ADS staff sets specific goals to accomplish with each participant. The typical adult day care program is designed to provide for: 

1. The creation of an emotional climate of acceptance and warmth that helps participants better accept themselves and their feelings
2. Frequent intervention by the staff to help smooth the progress of social interaction for participants whose communication ability is impaired
3. Opportunity for participants to experience the feeling of belonging, of being part of a group
4. Opportunity for participants to express feelings and rediscover mutual kinds of experience
5. Opportunity for participants to reminisce about past accomplishments and give new meaning to their current lives
6. Opportunity for participants to achieve a sense of self by expressing personal opinions in an environment of respect and acceptance
7. Opportunity to maintain lifelong skills and capacity for independent functioning
8. Opportunity to learn new skills and gain knowledge
9. Be exposed to and involved in activities and events within the greater community
10. Develop their creative capacity
11. Develop increased ability to accept change
12. Improve physical well-being. 

REMINISCENCE

Universally, adult day care is activity-based. An activity fairly common within adult day centers is reminiscence. Why is this activity performed? Reminiscence improves emotional well-being by affirming life experience, meeting the core needs of identity, inclusion in the group, emotional comfort and often love (or unconditional acceptance). The flow of a reminiscence discussion may also provide intellectual stimulation.

In a reminiscence group, each person’s contribution of meaningful experiences often stimulates others to think of related experiences from his/her own earlier life. Studies have demonstrated that use of the mind does enhance retention of memory through stimulation of the neural connections. The point of reminiscence must not be to focus on historical facts. Rather, the aim is to involve everyone in sharing their experiences and perceptions of life events. The events described may have many personal elements or few, but each member begins to sense the richness of another’s personal experience and to appreciate the individuality of each participant.

Ideally, each member becomes more invested in the experience of others as they become more fully acquainted. This requires flexibility to “go with the flow” or direction the participants take with the discussion. The Adult day Services staff knows that the art of activities is not in what is done, but in the doing. The importance of any activity is usually not the final outcome, but whether the participants had enjoyment while working on it.