She's making it work only because of a nearby adult day program, where Bob spends his weekdays while Donna goes off to her bookkeeper's job. That's what Nancy Cox of Wake Forest University calls them. The point, she says, is that access to such day centers often is all that stands between people like Bob Sharpless and a nursing home. And the daily cost runs half that of a nursing home. Most programs are open a full day, till around 6 p.m., so that caregiving spouses and children can work.
Transportation is provided.
So is personal care like bathing, shampoos, and manicures. Some 20 percent of centers are run by nursing homes, and many now offer overnight and even weeklong stays, which allows caregivers to take a rare break or vacation. Some centers, like Adult Care of Chester County, which Bob Sharpless attends, have separate programs with specially trained staff for people with dementia. He left burners on and got lost on walks far from home. Now aides build activities around things that were once enjoyable to Bob, like listening to tapes of the Merle Haggard songs he used to play in a local band.