Adult Day Health Care
Assess Promising Providers
Find a list of potential adult day health care providers. This Web site allows searching providers by location or facility or agency name.
Get basic information to hone your list. Phone potential adult day health care facilities and briefly explain the essentials of the care you seek. Ask whether it provides service in the geographic area needed and can begin giving service when the client needs it. Also ask the provider about specific needs that you have identified and whether it will be able to meet them.
Ask about scheduling and costs. Make sure that the care and services are provided at times that met your needs and at a price you can afford. Check on hours and days of operation and find out whether the charges for care are hourly or daily, whether there are extra charges for services that may be required, and whether financial assistance may be available if needed.
Make an appointment to visit. If the center is able to accommodate the individual client’s needs, make an appointment to visit. Note the look and feel. Pay attention to your first impression of the look and feel of the place. Centers should be pleasant and clean with smoke detectors, secure doors, and other safety precautions. Ideally, staff will be friendly, helpful, and informative -- as well as concerned about making clients happy. And clients will seem cheerful and engaged in their activities. Be sure to notice whether there are clients whose needs are similar to your own.
Find out about insurance and licensing. Also ask whether the provider is licensed and covered by insurance. Adult day health care centers should have a license from the California Department of Health Services, and should also have business and liability insurance. Most licensed centers will provide proof of these if asked. The search tool on this Web site includes only adult day health care services that are licensed by the state. If you are considering an unlicensed facility, you need to understand that there is no government agency monitoring the operation of that facility. It is up to you to watchdog the quality of care and services provided in them.
Evaluate the staff and standards. Find out how long the provider has been in operation. A center that has been in business for more than a year or two will be able to provide a track record of its services. Expect the center to have enough staff to provide clients with individual attention. For example, a center that serves people with Alzheimer’s disease should have one staff person for every six clients. Adult day health care centers should maintain a ratio of at least one program aide for every 16 clients, in addition to staffing social work assistants and vocational nurses. Centers should also maintain hiring standards that demand a certain amount of training or experience from employees. They should also know where all staff members have been for the last five years and check for criminal records throughout that period. The state imposes this tough employment qualification on adult day health care workers, recognizing that they are dealing with a vulnerable population.
Check references. As a practical check on the provider, try to speak with a number of recent or current clients -- especially long-term customers. These people will have the best information about the services that they have received at the center.
Be mindful of the personal fit. Bring the potential client on a tour of a potential provider before signing on for care there, both to help determine whether the facilities are comfortable for him or her and to begin the process of getting familiar with them. And if adult day health care is a big change for the caregivers and person who needs care, ask whether you can try out the provider for a week or so to see whether it meets everyone’s needs. If not, you may need to begin the process anew with another provider on your list.
