Day centres losing popularity as people choose to pursue other interests instead

Devon Council has called for a review to explore why more people are choosing to use their personal budgets to peruse hobbies or join local groups than access available day care centres.

Uptake in people attending day care centres has been falling in number since 2005, with 66 per cent fewer service users visiting.

The council is responding to calls from service users and carers to modernise care centres in a bid to increase numbers of attendees, as well as ensure that day opportunities are suitable for the needs of the increasing amount of people using them .

Councillor Stuart Barker, the Council's Cabinet Member responsible for adult social care said:

"Our success at helping people to find different things to do means that we need to look at all day centre provision as well as other local opportunities to understand what our options are.

"We want to make sure that our funding is in line with the choices that people are making. We need our services to reflect and support people's wishes and needs.

"Whatever the outcome of the review, we'll be talking to day service users and carers about options."

It has been found that more people are choosing to access day opportunities based in the local community, but for more people to benefit from them more help is needed. Where similar opportunities are not currently available in more rural areas, the council has been told more work is to be done.

Members of Devon County Council’s Cabinet will propose how it would like to see day opportunities to improve in the future and the impact this might have on day centres. The meeting will be held on 9 October 2013.

As well as modernising day care centres for people who meet the eligibility criteria, services that are available to everyone in the community to combat issues such as social isolation or loneliness need improved signposting.

Mr Barker continued: "Clearly we must extend our support, not only to people who meet our eligibility criteria, but also to those with moderate needs who need a temporary helping hand to guide them in the right direction.

"We need a service that develops a range of flexible day opportunities in local communities, which is what people want, as well as specialist facilities for people with very intensive care needs."

The council has expressed plans to work with local voluntary organisations to ensure people can access support wherever and whenever they need it most.

They also plan to find out what type of transport is needed to make sure these community based opportunities can be accessed.

The drop in use of day centres has led to plans to review them and assess alternative options. Other opportunities include sharing buildings and facilities with other services and reviewing the impact of possible closure of those services.

Mr Barker said: "We know attendance at many of our day centres is going to continue falling as people choose to do other things.

"We'll wait to see what our review finds. It may mean that we need to modernise and invest in some of our day centres so that they can better support people with complex needs.

"Some day centres may close in areas where we know there are alternatives that people are preferring to use, while some support may relocate to other buildings alongside other services.

“I will ensure that everyone who is eligible for our support will continue to receive support. No one with eligible needs will be left without a service."