Adult day care centers provide a safe, secure environment for adults who are unable to stay alone during the day. Adult day care provides social activities, meals and supervision for elderly parents and helps caregivers in need of a break.

My elderly mother lives with me. I work full-time and am not home during the day, but I don't think she's safe when she stays alone. Should we look into adult day care?

Some adult day care centers accept patients with mobility problems, such as hip replacements. Visit the adult day care you have in mind ahead of time and discuss how they handle mobility issues.

Staying with your mom for a while the first time you drop her off at adult day care is a good idea and might help ease the transition.

Adult day care staff members are trained to handle dementia behaviors, including: anxiety, hallucinations, wandering and aggression.