Adult Day Center Celebrates Four Decades of Care

The Susan J. Rheem Adult Day Center (SJRC) celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. A boots-on-the-ground organization, SJRC is on the front line supporting family caregivers by offering the needed respite, education, resources and support through its medical/social model, Arizona Department of Health Services-licensed, adult day health program.

In acknowledging the spirit of caregiving on behalf of their late founding Executive Director Susan J. Rheem, Adult Care Services is proud to announce that the SJRC has been awarded the David Besst Award from the Arizona Caregiver Coalition. The award honors the awardees but also David Besst, who untiringly worked to establish resources and respite for family caregivers. Laura Dreibelbis, the director of the Susan J. Rheem Center, along with Yvonne Napolitano, executive director of Adult Care Services, were presented with the award on March 3, at the Family Caregiver Day at the capitol.

This amazing day center has been the only adult day health program in Northern Arizona supporting caregivers for many of the past 40 years. SJRC has been an affordable care option for families to stay together longer instead of premature placement in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or having to rely on in-home care. SJRC has been recognized as a leader across the United States because of its ability to maintain solid adult day programming in a rural area, whereas most adult day health programs are only successful in larger cities.

The center, located in Prescott Valley, serves its participants from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is unique in the fact that it has six buses that transport participants from Paulden, Cordes Lakes, Prescott and all the towns in between. The center was built with safety for its participants in mind and is a secure building.

Although the Susan J. Rheem Center specializes in serving those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementias, it does offer services to those 18 years of age and older with an array of illnesses and disabilities. Taking pride in the care they give to each and every person they serve, the center has a full-time in-house chef that prepares a nutritious breakfast, lunch and a snack each day. Being a medical/social model of care, there are two full-time nurses and several life enrichment specialists who create a wonderful program that includes exercise and socialization. The nurses monitor health conditions and conduct care meetings with family members and case managers.

The Susan J. Rheem Center is connected with Arizona Long Term Care, Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) and the Veterans Administration to help those participants who qualify with the cost of services. QCBN

By Candace Lea

If you are interested in learning more about this day program, please visit their website  at www.adultcareservices.org or call for a tour: 928-775-3563.

Candace Lea, MBA, is the community liaison for Adult Care Services.