Background:

Chile is a country that will continue aged at an accelerated rate as a result of a progressive decline in the birth rate, adequate access to health and a sustained increase in life expectancy. The aging population is one of the major challenges for the country as well as for health and for social services to support aged population. Introducing the Day Care Centers for aged people, as a new gerontological service, will become a critical part of the services offered to the elderly living in the community, creating the foundations for an specialized system of care directed this age group. The aim of this study is to evaluate the experience of a group of elderly people from a day care center of a municipality of the Metropolitan Region.

Methods:

Descriptive qualitative study with focus group and content analysis that reveals the experience of 37 older people attending at day care center.

Results:

The main results of this study were: (a) improvement in functionality, (b) empowerment of older persons, and (c) greater social inclusion.

Conclusion:

The experience of older persons is assessed as positive by themselves. Older people recognized improvements in key aspects of their daily lives and have the potential to contribute to improving and strengthening the functionality and mental health of elderly people. These results provide evidence for national evaluation of this new geriatric service.

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