Beliefs in terms of the benefits and barriers of participating in adult day care centers in Tehran in 2022Beliefs in terms of the benefits and barriers of participating in adult day care centers in Tehran in 2022

Adult day services are one of the more popular long-term care options for older adults. The aim of this study was to determine the beliefs of the elderly regarding the perceived benefits and barriers of participation in adult day care centers in Tehran.

In this cross-sectional study (descriptive- analytical type), 194 older adults who referred to adult day care centers were selected by consensus method. The data was collected by a research-made questionnaire. Finally, the data was analyzed by SPSS software and t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-way ANOVA tests.

The average age of the elderly studied was 74.9 years (SD=7.25). The mean scores of the perceived barriers and perceived benefits to participation in centers were 57.66 (SD= 10.59) and 71.35 (SD= 11.82) respectively. The majority of the elderly believed that participating in centers had some benefits such as receiving positive feelings from the center personnel, increasing physical strength and strengthening muscles by doing sports in the center and using the experiences of people similar to them. The lack of time to attend the center regularly, the low quality of services during to COVID-19 pandemic and the problems of transportation from home to the center were recognized as barriers to participating in adult day care centers. Illiterate participants had more perceived advantages than participants with university education degree (P=0.047). Single participants had more advantages for participating in centers than married participants (P<0.001). In addition, unemployed participants (currently) had fewer barriers to participate in adult day care centers than employed participants (P<0.001).

According to the advantages of these centers, periodic identification of the perceived barriers of the participation in these centers and try to remove them may help to increase the physical, social and psychological health of this group as well as their caregivers.