Abstract
Using an administrative data set (N =129), this exploratory study examines individual and environmental factors that discriminate the reasons for disenrollment from five medical/social adult day health programs in Central Ohio. The social ecological model is used to identify pertinent variables and to test the “goodness of fit” between participants and adult day services. Because most older adults prefer to live in the community until the end of their lives, those participants who disenroll into a nursing facility or no longer need services are not considered a good fit compared to those who remain enrolled until death. A multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the influence of each variable on the likelihood of disenrollment due to death, institutionalization, or opting out of services. Being married and having an immediate family member as a primary caregiver both made a significant contribution to the reason for disenrolling from the adult day programs. The findings suggest social support is critical to determining who is best served by adult day services. Social work practitioners and policy-makers are encouraged to explore creative ways to create and support informal caregivers.