Day Care seems to be a postcode lottery, as to the cost, and how much help you get. I can only speak of my own experience, but it was eye wateringly expensive. John went to what was called a Peer Group Dementia Club, for one day a week, and that was heavily subsidised, and only cost £10 for 4 hours, including lunch.
But on the other days, he went to an Age Concern centre, and for this we were charged £9 an hour. Even though John had under £13,000 in savings in his own name, our LA took into account his State Retirement Pension, and his Private Pension, and we were given very little help towards the costs.
As his health deteriorated, he increased from a couple of days a week at the Age Concern centre, to 4 days, and then he went to another venue on a Saturday. He used to also go to these centres for 4 hours. I'm amazed at how much financial help other authorities appear to give, and I made sure I claimed everything that I could.
But, at the end of the day, it was because John went to the centres, that I was able to look after him for nearly 12 years. I also had a total of 12 hours help, from Crossroads, through the Peoples' Lottery, for just £22.50, and that covered giving him a bath, 3 times a week. All other help at home, which I needed towards the end, was nearly £17 an hour. Of course, the carers get about half of that!
When he went into permanent Residential Care, I wasn't paying a lot more than what I had been for 24 hours of Day Care, but as I say, that's because of the way our Local Authority operated and he was there for 6 months until he died. But looking back, I have no regrets of the choices I made.
And that's it - it has to be what suits you, and your bank balance. We hadn't had holidays for 10 years, so I looked on the Day Care as my holiday. Good luck to people making these choices. It's a hard thing to decide, but has to be what suits you. xxx