Alzheimer's Family Day Center

About Alzheimer's Family Day Center

The Alzheimer's Family Day Center (AFDC), formerly Family Respite Center, was established in 1984 by the Alzheimer's Association to benefit people who were not being served by existing community services, specifically people in the middle and late stages of dementia or those with behavior problems or incontinence.

The concept for the Center came from the minds and hearts of the members of the very first support group in Northern Virginia.  The words Alzheimer's Disease were finally appearing in the newspapers and in magazines and the Alzheimer's Association was working hard to keep up with the demands of the Northern Virginia community for information and support.  A decision was made by the officers of the Association to establish the Family Respite Center as an independent business entity.

Historical highlights include: 

On July 14, 1984, the Center was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the           Commonwealth of Virginia.  Lin Noyes acted as a volunteer director of the Center until there were funds to hire her in October 1984.

In 1989, the Center received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to expand the Home Companion Program and the capacity of the day care center.

In 1994, the Center became an Adult Day Care Center and thereby became the first of this type to specialize in the care of people with dementia.

In 1998, through a grant from the Arlington Health Foundation, the late-stage program (the Sunshine Club) was expanded, allowing the Center to serve more people in need of this care.

In 2001, the board of directors passed a resolution to change the name of the organization to better reflect who we are and what we do, and adopted the name Alzheimer's Family Day Center.

The Center is very proud of the contribution to adult day care in Northern Virginia.  We believe that we have elevated the standard of care for persons with Alzheimer's type diseases.  The Alzheimer's Family Day Center has had many firsts; the first adult day care center in Northern Virginia to open its doors to people in the later stage of the illness, the first to take people who are incontinent, the first to offer Art Therapy on a routine basis and the first to provide educational classes on caregiving to families and professionals.  Since 1991, the Center has received grants to publish a guide for families called Caregiving at a Glace, and in 2001, collaborated with Somorford Place to compile a Caregiving at a Glance professional version.   

 To date, over 900 families have been served in our dementia-specific adult day care and thousands of others in support groups and through training and health education.

AFDC is the acknowledged authority in the Washington metropolitan area on caring for people with Alzheimer's and dementia related illnesses, especially those in the later stages of this disease. This reputation has been gained by AFDC's experienced staff members who work with patients and family members as they cope with the effects of the disease.

We have been serving the Northern Virginia area since 1984 and have gained the reputation of the Alzheimer's Caregiving Experts

The programs are designed to meet the needs of people as they progress through the disease.

Our staffing ratios are designed to meet the needs of our participants: 1 staff to every 3 or 4 participants!

All AFDC staff receive 80 hours of training in aging and dementia caregiving techniques before they begin caregiving.  This enables the staff to be consistent in their approach and enhances feeling of comfort and routine for our participants. 

 

 

 

 

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