Fetterman and other experts on the elderly advocate adult foster care because it offers a more homelike setting than do nursing homes. Much of the reason for adult foster care remaining invisible is because there is no generally recognized term for adult foster care. It's known by many names and operates in many states under different philosophies of caregiving and regulation. Therein may lie the reason so many of America's elderly, who can no longer be completely self-sufficient, find themselves in nursing homes instead of adult foster care centers, Fetterman said.
Many elderly persons find themselves in nursing homes after a debilitating illness.
Everyone knows what a nursing home is. It just rolls off the tongue. The Southwest Conference on Adult Foster Care has been designed with several goals in mind, said Sue Farris, with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. We want to make people aware of the foster care program in Texas. We want to help upgrade the skills of those involved in adult foster care.