Active, Social, Talk Therapy at the Friendship Center

Santa Barbara, did you know that there is an extremely low-cost, high quality therapy for adults living with various forms and stages of dementia available here in our community?

I’m not talking about a medication or some revolutionary cure (because there are none). What we do know, however, is that cognitive and social engagement can have significant impacts on those experiencing memory impairments, and adult day services are just the ticket! Adult day services, commonly referred to as “adult day care,” offer the unique combination of purposeful engagement and peace of mind to those living with cognitive decline and their family caregivers, respectively.

Tina Sadarangani, PhD, RN, has dedicated her impressive career in geriatric research to championing adult day services as “highly effective platforms for chronic disease management, and a fundamental lifeline for chronically ill and cognitively impaired people and their families.” In her most recently published article at McKnights, “Adult day services offer more than ‘dancing and dominoes,’” Sadarangani doubles down on the “damaging” stigma of adult day care centers, which were deemed nonessential during the COVID-19 pandemic in many states and forced to close their doors.

Friendship Center Adult Day Services is the Santa Barbara community’s answer to enabling thousands of families to remain together during a loved one’s dementia journey since opening its doors in 1976. But during the pandemic, it was one of the sites deemed “nonessential.” Fortunately, we were able to pivot our program to continue offering services remotely thanks to car windows and Zoom. As our Friendship Center is now fully back up and running for on-site programs Monday through Friday, we can feel the need for day programs like ours growing stronger by the day.

Once an “alternative” to dementia care, adult day services are now becoming the only option for many families who are unable to afford, secure or coordinate in-home care or residential care placement, both of which come with a hefty price tag.

Simply put, adult day services, cares, centers, programs, whatever you’d like to call it, are becoming less of an option and more of a necessity to families with a dependent, elderly loved one. This is particularly true for the rapidly growing “sandwich generation” of adults who are simultaneously caring for their children and their parents.

While we patiently wait for our country’s direct care worker shortage to turn around, quality residential community options to grow in availability and affordability, and breakthroughs in medical research to equitably impact the senior population, adult day programs will be here with our arms open, music on, and compassion flowing to fill the gaps.

As Tina Sadarangani concluded, “It is time for the public to acknowledge potential biases [in what adult day programs actually do] and recognize that these programs are more than just dancing and dominoes — but rather, vital sources of care that enable aging in place.”

Come visit us at Friendship Center anytime. We are not going anywhere.

Kathryn Westland, MPH, is executive director for the Friendship Center.