Underutilization of Adult Day Care: An Exploratory Study

Caregivers who had inquired about day care centers but did not enroll the care recipient in the programs were interviewed. The most common reason respondents provided for not using day care was that the center?s composition did not exactly meet their needs in terms of the level of disability of the participants. Other reasons provided for not using day care included external reasons such as cost or transportation or that some other suitable alternative had been found. Even though day care was not used, most respondents reported that some change had been made in the provision of care, such as acquiring outside help or placing the care recipient in a nursing home.