Day Care and Day Services

Service information provided by HCC Adult Services Department

Day care is a term to describe any kind of organised activity that takes you out of your home during the day, and often means going to a day centre to join in activities there. Day centres can be run by local authorities, by voluntary organisations (sometimes with local authority funding) or by commercial organisations (such as residential homes).

Adult Services often arrange places in day centres for people, and some day centres only take people through Adult Services. Others, however, are open to anyone.

Centres vary in size, but all have a strong social element and offer a wide range of activities. Many provide regular outings and invite entertainers and speakers. Some offer special programmes for people suffering from dementia.

Centres are usually open for about five hours in the middle of the day and provide a midday meal. Some provide personal care for the people who attend and some also offer other services, such as laundry, chiropody or hairdressing.

Many centres have their own transport and can collect people from home and take them back at the end of the session.

Day services for younger people
There are day centres for younger people with physical and/or learning disabilities and people recovering from mental illness.

These day services aim to give people the skills they need to help them live as independently as possible. For example, some have programmes that teach physically disabled people the skills they will need in the workplace, others help people with learning disabilities to plan, shop for and prepare meals. They also offer recreational activities, including crafts and sports.

Meals can be DIY (or brought from home), as part of the learning programme, or self-service from a cafeteria.