Q. What services are offered at day care?

A. Many offer a hair salon, standby nursing care, and some offer bathing services. Each will be different. Those attached to nursing homes may offer more options if you have a diabetic or someone more likely to need a nurse in an emergency. You need to ask each one what services they have available.

Q. What are the most positive aspects for the caregiver of using adult day care?

A. The obvious one is time to have for errands, work or just being alone. One column reader added this valuable twist and I've felt the need to pass it on, as I hadn't thought of it before. He said that he dropped his wife off at day care and then went home. He'd sit and enjoy not having to "have eyes in the back of his head." Okay, that's obvious. But he also said that it helped him learn to walk into an empty house without his lifelong partner being there with him. It helped him prepare for her death and the inevitable loneliness that would follow. This gentleman suggests the day care option to many people as "'pre-death" therapy. He was gradually able to get used to the empty house, so when his wife died, he was more prepared. That is definitely something to think about for spousal caregivers.

For more information about Carol go to www.mindingourelders.com or www.mindingoureldersblogs.com.