Adult day care around Charleston

What is adult day care?

A licensed weekday program offering supervision, meals, activities and often help with medications and personal care for adults who should not be alone during the day, licensed by DPH with a maximum participant capacity.

The three counties have 10 DPH-licensed adult day care centers, licensed for 658 participants in all.

Who pays for adult day care?

Most families pay privately; the Community Choices waiver covers adult day health care for eligible Medicaid members, and BoldAge PACE participants attend its own licensed center in North Charleston.

CareScout's 2025 South Carolina median for adult day health care five days a week is $18,720 a year, about $1,560 a month, far less than any residential option.

Who benefits most from adult day care?

People with mild to moderate dementia or physical frailty who live with a family caregiver, and caregivers who work or need regular breaks.

Starting with two or three days a week helps the participant adjust. Ask about transportation, since centers cover different parts of the three counties.

What does a typical day at a Lowcountry adult day center look like?

Most centers open early enough for a working caregiver's commute, offer breakfast or a snack, structured activities such as exercise, music and games, a hot lunch, rest time and help with medications and toileting, and close in the late afternoon.

Some centers focus on adults with dementia; others serve a mix of frail older adults and younger adults with disabilities. Ask what a day looks like for someone with your parent's needs, how staff handle a participant who wants to leave, and whether the center sends a daily note home. Transportation, where offered, often covers only part of the three counties.

How do I choose an adult day center?

Visit on an ordinary weekday, stay through lunch, and ask about hours, transportation, staffing, whether a nurse is on site, how medications are given, how dementia behaviors are handled and how the center communicates with families.

Check the center's DPH license and licensed capacity on our roster, and ask whether it is a Community Choices provider if Medicaid may help pay.

Is adult day care a good fit for someone with dementia?

Often: structure, social contact and a predictable routine help many people with mild to moderate dementia, and the caregiver gets a dependable break; ask how the center manages wandering, agitation and toileting.

Some people with dementia find any change of setting distressing and do better with care at home. A trial of a few weeks usually answers the question.

How is adult day care spread across the Lowcountry?

DPH's licensing data puts adult day care in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties as shown below.