Adult day care operates on a set schedule at a dedicated facility, giving a family caregiver structured time back during the day. In-home care comes to the house on whatever schedule the family sets, with no travel required for the person receiving care.
Cost and coverage
Indiana does not publish a statewide adult day care cost median the way it does for assisted living or nursing homes. Indiana's PathWays Waiver can help cover adult day services for eligible Hoosiers 60 and older -- ask CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions whether a specific adult day program participates.
Why many families use both
Adult day care and in-home care are not mutually exclusive. A common pattern is adult day care on weekdays a caregiver works, paired with in-home help or family caregiving in the evenings and on weekends -- covering more hours of the week than either option alone, often at a lower blended cost than scaling up either one by itself.