Facility Description
Due to aging population, policymakers’ push to cut national health care costs, and other challenges home-care providers face, the total number of adult day centers in the United States has more than doubled in the past five years. There were 5,685 adult day care programs in the United States in 2019 (Ayalon, 2019). The quality of service in these centers is largely determined, in particular, with inter-cultural competence of employees, especially when working with minorities.
Population
The social worker should take into account the whole range of values and mechanisms of social integration of these groups, as each of them has specific and unique features, beliefs, social and health practice (Min, 2005).
At the same time, all these multicultural groups believe that social work “would be a great source of comfort to people in times of need” (Padilla, McRoy, & Calvo, 2019, p. 1).
Indians have rather strong believes about better effectiveness of non-traditional medicine, and the habit of smoking is inherent in almost half of male population (Sudha & Padmakala, 2017).
Chinese also have strong established attitude about effectiveness and necessity of non-traditional medicine. Moreover, Confucianism considers education of virtue as the basis of good health – when a person is virtuous, diseases do not come.
Best evidenced-based practices
The category of migrants’ access to social and health services, which are provided in a complex in day care centers, is assessed based on the analysis of several indicators, starting with what happens to a person when interacting with the health care system, determining the degree of compliance with the needs and adequacy of the medical care received, general assessment of its quality and the effect of using medical services.
A new understanding of the concept of accessibility of health care institutions and medical services has made the development of modern approaches to its study urgent, as well as the search for new measurement tools. Best practice of day care centers in this field implies development and application of appropriate KPIs (Ellen, Demaio, Lange, & Wilson, 2017; Lunt, Dowrick & Lloyd-Williams, 2018).
It should e noted that the care offered for patients is often a social model (with a focus on socialization and prevention services) or a medical model (including assessment, treatment and rehabilitation goals) provided to improve the health of participants and guide their progress in the right direction (Zhou & Fu, 2019).
The mission which the facility declares is to ensure that “every client enjoys exceptional senior care in a licensed adult day care setting” (Vatsalya official website).
The focus is shifting from looking at the use of day care center services as a specific indicator for measuring access to health services to the effectiveness of the whole process. The best practices consider social practices in these centers namely from this angle (Lunt et al., 2018).
Relatives of elderly people can take a course of theoretical and practical training, learn about the peculiarities of patient care, as well as receive regular psychological support within the framework of a “support and self-help group” (Song et al., 2017).
Regular measurement of effectiveness based on a set of KPIs is carried out.
The day care facilities provide counseling, as well as social and psychological services. Classes are held with a psychologist, both in group and individually. The psychologist would conduct psychological diagnostics and, if necessary, helps stabilize the emotional state, tells about the stages of development of a person’s growing up and facilitates finding the right way in resolving issues of intra-family relations. Elderly citizens are offered events where there is an opportunity to show their creative abilities, to realize themselves in amateur art (Song et al., 2017).
The results mean increase in quality of life indicators for elderly people of different cultural background with functional limitations and the need for outside help, by removing isolation and stigmatization, providing the opportunity to realize and maintain normal social, professional, and personal ties (Spiteri, 2016).
The results achieved imply increasing the life expectancy of the population and improving the quality of life of elderly citizens, including those with cognitive impairments, ensuring the possibility of their inclusion in active socially oriented activities, and the return of able-bodied people caring for their loved ones to the economy as an able-bodied population (Lunt et al., 2018).
Current modalities used in the facility
In general, services include nursing, social services, therapeutic recreation, dietary services (customizing designed menu), physical therapy, occupational therapy, personal care (including haircutting and shaving).
Methods of Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in the Facility
Appropriate change plan should be developed and implemented, based on ADKAR, because changes in an organization are similar to changes in the behavior of each employee, and the mistake of many leaders is that they pay attention to organizational transformation while ignoring the staff.
To teach staff in frames of newly introduced practices, it is advisable to conduct based on Kolb cycle method, to ensure effective reflection and fixing of new knowledge and skills.
The Findings from the Articles
Facilities provide elderly with enjoyable, as well as educational, activities, contributing to increase of their quality of life.
Social interaction improves mental and physical health and contributes to enhancement of social cultural integration of minorities.
Improvement of self-control over activities bolster self-esteem in minorities elderly.
References
Ayalon, L. (2019). Sense of belonging to the community in continuing care retirement communities and adult day care centers: The role of the social network. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(2), 437-447. Web.
Brown, E., Mauro, A., & Friedemann, M.-L. (2014). Use of adult day care service centers in an ethnically diverse sample of older adults. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, Article 4934983. Web.
Ellen, M., Demaio, P., Lange, A., Wilson, M. G. (2017). Adult day center programs and their associated outcomes on clients, caregivers, and the health system: A scoping review. The Gerontologist, 57(6), 85-94.
Lunt, C., Dowrick, C., & Lloyd-Williams, M. (2018). The role of day care in supporting older people living with long-term conditions. Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care, 12(4), 510–515.
Min, J. (2005). Cultural competency: A Key to effective future social work with racially and ethnically diverse elders. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 86(3), 347-358.
Padilla, Y., McRoy, R., & Calvo, R. (2019). Rethinking practice with multicultural communities: Lessons from research-based applications. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 28(1), 1-6.
Peng, C.M., Xu, X.Y., He, Q.W., Guan, X.Y., Li, Q., Suo, Y. (2016). Empirical research on the operation mode of day care service for the elderly in urban communities – A case study of Luoyang Jianxi district. Journal of Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology (Social Science Edition), 15, 1-6.
Song, M, Seo, K., Choi, S., Choi, j., Ko, H., Lee, S. (2017). Seniors centre-based health intervention programmes in the United States and South Korea: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 23. Web.
Spiteri, D. (2016). What do older people learn from young people? Intergenerational learning in ‘day centre’ community settings in Malta. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 35(3), 235-253.
Sudha, N., & Padmakala, S. (2017). Health practices of high school student in Kanyakumari district. International Journal of Research, 5(3), 33-39.
Vatsalya Adult Daycare (2020). About us. Web.
Zhou, Y., & Fu, J. (2019). Review of studies on day-care centers for the elderly in community. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 07(12), 322-334.