TAMPA \u2014 It\u2019s play time.<\/p>\n
Generations Club \u2014 Tampa\u2019s first full-service nonprofit adult day care center \u2014 is a place for seniors to socialize, receive care and participate in purposeful activities that improve their cognitive health. When it opened in March, owner and CEO Kim Kasper said the spacious facility was \u201cborn out of a family\u2019s search for a place where a loved one who was diagnosed with dementia could spend their days with joy, dignity and meaningful engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
That meaningful engagement isn\u2019t just playing bingo or watching TV.<\/p>\n
The center offers full-scale activities, including a life-sized Candy Land play course and retro arcade games to immersive art sessions and live music performances.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Kasper doesn\u2019t even call it daycare \u2014 it\u2019s adult \u201cplay\u201d care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just don\u2019t like that term \u2014 day care \u2014 because they\u2019re here to keep them active,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to sit around and watch TV all day. And just like at work, they have their good days and their bad days, but here they get a day full of activities that are thoughtfully designed to be fun and encourage socialization.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, sure, like a child or dog care facility, they get dropped off but they get all the support they need while here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kasper adds that Generations Club and its adult \u201cplay\u201d care is actually twofold in its design. Usually, its club \u201cmembers\u201d have a full-time caregiver, whether family or someone hired. The play care allows a break for the caregiver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need support, too, whether it be a physical or mental break,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Generations Club also provides onsite access to medical and personal care services through partnerships with medical professionals. It offers recommendations for those services and provides onsite personal grooming, from haircuts and nail trims.<\/p>\n
The facility has various activity rooms, including a library\/game room, a kitchen and lunchroom, a music room with instruments, an art studio, a small gym with equipment and the large activity center with the Candy Land play course. Kaspar says staff will also pick up members within a 20-mile radius.<\/p>\n
Throughout the day \u2014 which includes breakfast, lunch and a snack for full-day drop-off or pickup \u2014 volunteer activity coordinators and supporters from partnerships with local colleges or high schoolers lead members in various activities. These range from games to simple exercises such as practicing writing letters and numbers for those with onset dementia. There\u2019s even a school-like setting, with a locker corridor for members to store their valuables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a little bit of everything for everyone,\u201d Kasper added. \u201cAnd we\u2019re adding new stuff all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kasper means it.<\/p>\n
Plans are already underway to add several more Generations Club locations, including Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Brandon, Sun City Center and as far as Greenville and Columbus.<\/p>\n
Kasper says most long-term care insurance and Medicaid will cover the cost for adult play care, which can also be paid for out of pocket.<\/p>\n
In the end, it\u2019s all about getting seniors another chance at living life through playtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeniors deserve more than care,\u201d Kaspar said. \u201cThey deserve connection, creativity, and community and caretakers need compassion and support. Gone are the days of plastic tablecloths and bingo. We are redefining adult day care to adult play care.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 It\u2019s play time. Generations Club \u2014 Tampa\u2019s first full-service nonprofit adult day care center \u2014 is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[22402,22410,22401,22406,22399,22412,22411,571,6584,276,22403,22404,22409,12022,22398,22400,8573,22408,22405,22407,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-31355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-adult-daycare-center","tag-ageing","tag-caregiver","tag-child-care","tag-generations-club","tag-geriatrics","tag-gerontology","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-human-development","tag-human-life-stages","tag-old-age","tag-public-services","tag-senior-living","tag-social-group","tag-social-issues","tag-social-policy","tag-social-programs","tag-social-work","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}