Attitudes of Decision Makers Toward Adult Day Care

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature on adult day care, but there appear to be no studies of those who make decisions about older adults'participation. This article begins to fill this gap. The results suggest several directions for entrepreneurs and local planners. Adult day-care centers need to advertise extensively to children of older adults, their special friends, and older adults themselves. Large centers in central locations would probably not be as successful as small programs, perhaps in churches catering to a local homogeneous clientele. Centers arranged for the convenience of the decision makers, providing care during nonworking hours and transportation, would probably flourish. The data consist of 1985-1986 telephone interviews with 247 current and potential decision makers who lived in Greensboro, N.C.