Introduction: Day care centres (DCC) aim to support older adults living in their own homes by providing a variety of activities to promote the independence of those people and reduce the caregiver's burden. In Poland, there are no standards for providing this form of care. The provided care is delivered by different organisations, and there is a lack of quality control in the majority of places. Regrettably, in Poland, there is a paucity of research on the holistic needs of the elderly attending DCC.
Aim of this study: This is the first study which has aimed to identify the Polish day care centres attendees' needs to ensure that the increasing number of older people receive the best possible care, and as a part of the quality improvement process for recommendation development of the new day care services model in Poland within the 'Homely Marina' project.
Methods and materials: A representative sample (n = 269) was randomly selected from day care centres attendees (estimated as 10,688) in Poland. An anonymous survey for the assessment of needs was developed by the authors.
Results: The respondents assessed the level of provided services as very good or good. Best rated services included meals, supportive and welfare services (occupational therapy, music therapy, art therapy, cognitive training). Almost half of the participants indicated the need for company as the main reason to attend a DCC. This research reveals a lack of support with regard to additional staff: e.g., a nurse.
Conclusions: In Poland, the services offered in DCC should focus on social isolation and sense of loneliness prevention, and maintenance of social activity of the elderly. The presented analysis of needs in Polish day care centres suggests a need for changes which may improve the quality of services. There is a great need to find a balance between home-based care and in-patient care, using better integration of available services and strengthening support for informal caregivers. Robust research with a collection of meaningful outcomes is required to ensure that in Poland, the increasing number of older people is enabled to access high-quality day care service provision.
Keywords: community; day care centres; elderly; health and social care; health promotion.