Adult Day Health: A Caregiver's Perspective - Case Study Example

A cross-sectional method along with the psychological contract for the framework was the approach utilized for this study. The total population from one day health center was approached via mail. Sixty two respondents out of two hundred and twenty one provided quantitative and qualitative data through a survey. The conclusion of the study lends credit to the view that caregivers utilize adult day health centers to improve the quality of their life and the life of the care recipients. In 2012, the aged population in the United States, which refers to persons aged above sixty-five years, was estimated at 43.1 million. Future projections estimate that by 2050, the number will have increased to about 84 million; an increase of about 135%.

Additional statistics show that those aged over 85 years is also growing and will have attained an average 350% increase by 2050. In evaluation, these trends indicate that the older population is growing as the United States ages. The two major factors contributing to this occurrence are immigration and higher fertility rates (Wiener & Tilly, 2002). These emerging trends are expected to have multiple implications in the future of the United States because it means that the aged population will increase while the working age population is likely to remain the same.

This will mean that public support programs will therefore have more people requiring support than those paying taxes. However, the biggest implication arising from this occurrence is that as the aged population continues to expand, adult day health care services, ADH, will need to be expanded or increased as well to cater for the increasing numbers. Adult day health, otherwise known as adult day services refers to community-based, non-residential facilities that provide social, nutritional and daily living support for the elderly (“State of California”, 2007).

The “day” part of ADH means that the adults require only day support as