Adult day services lack robust outcome data despite serving adults with complex health needs across long-term care systems. A proposed five-year research agenda aims to establish evidence standards for how these programs affect functional capacity, quality of life, and healthcare utilization patterns.
Key Points
- Adult day services outcomes remain largely unmeasured and understudied
- Research gap exists between service utilization and documented health impact
- Proposed agenda targets functional, social, and economic outcome metrics
Longevity Analysis
Adult day services represent a structural intervention point for adults managing multiple chronic conditions and functional decline. Understanding their actual impact on preservation of independence, cognitive function, and stress resilience—both for participants and caregivers—directly informs whether these programs support healthspan extension or merely manage decline. Current evidence gaps mean care decisions lack objective data on which programs slow or stabilize functional loss, making systematic outcome measurement essential to distinguish effective interventions from those providing social benefit without physiological impact.
Original published by SAGE Research on Aging, by Tina Sadarangani, Clara J. Scher, William Zagorski, Shahrzad Siamdoust, Keith Anderson1Rory Meyers College of Nursing, 5894New York University, New York, NY, USA2Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, 12295Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA3American Senior Care Centers, Inc., Nashville, TN, USA4Departments of Social Work and Public Health, School of Applied Sciences, 8083The University of Mississippi, University MS, USA.