SUMMIT —  Parents of severely disabled children don’t cease being caregivers once their children are adults.

And people whose own parents have Alzheimers, dementia and other debilitating conditions find themselves returning to the role of caregiver, also with no specific end in sight.

When that happens, their lives become wrapped up in taking care of those who can’t care for themselves.

Some seek out adult day care services for their loved ones.

Day care serves two broad purposes, according to a group of people who have enrolled their loved ones in Active Day, which operates a center on U.S. 60 in the Summit area.

They gathered to talk about day care issues Wednesday to mark National Adult Day Care Services Week, which is this week.

It provides them respite from their constant state of watchfulness and the chores that come with caregiving.

Just as important, perhaps more important, it provides a social venue for their loved ones, who otherwise would spend much of their time alone.

Gail and Bob Fry of Durbin said their 26-year-old daughter Whitney May missed the routine to which she had become accustomed in school and would get agitated during the couple of years they kept her at home after she finished.

With her cerebral palsy she requires constant care; she cannot walk or talk. But she still wants to be around other people. “The ability to be able to interact. She needs that,” Bob Fry said.

“They need the stimulation they get here, getting up on their feet and doing activities,” said Joy Newman, who lives in the Summit area and whose daughter Angela, 43, has cerebral palsy.

Centers like Active Day keep their clients busy with exercise, arts and crafts, music and other activities and don’t rely on TV, which is only used for occasional videos, said director Jill Adams.

The same holds true for older adults, according to Barbara Copley, executive director of the FIVCO Service Agency, which operates a center for elderly clients in the Catlettsburg Senior Center.

Her clients, some of whom have Alzheimers and related conditions and some who have had strokes or are recovering from illnesses, take part in games for mental stimulation, crafts, lite exercise and occasional field trips.

Many of her elderly clients would otherwise spend much of their time alone, she said.

The FIVCO center is operated on what the day care industry calls the social model, which means it does not provide any medical services. It is staffed by a director and two aides and provides limited transportation via minivan.

The Active Day center operates on the health care model, and its staff includes nurses and nurse aides.

The centers also provide respite from the constant, 24-hour responsibility for care. Caregivers can take care of other tasks, like grocery shopping, yard work and their own doctor appointments, or enjoy a few hours of relaxation with a book or lunch with a friend.

Relatives can help sometimes but she hates to ask, said Karen Sparks of Flatwoods, whose son Travis, 25, is severely developmentally disabled. “Knowing he is being taken care of and I don’t have to worry, that he’s not just sitting there, that’s important to me,” she said.

Alzheimer’s caregivers in particular need respite from their duties, Copley said. “It gives them time to do other things.”

It can be emotionally difficult to place a loved one in day care, especially in Appalachia, a region of close-knit family ties and a tradition of self-reliance. “People tend to have the attitude that family helps family and they don’t look outside,” Copley said.

Caregivers often wrestle with guilt. “You feel selfish, but you have to realize that’s not the reason you bring them. It’s for their own lives,” Sparks said.

Most clients at Active Day spend about six hours each day they are there, although it is open longer, and most of them pay the fees via Medicaid. It requires a physician referral for enrollment.

The FIVCO center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; it is state-funded and charges a sliding scale fee based on income. Most clients don’t have to pay, Copley said. No referral is required.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.