Rehabilitation interventions at senior day centres for older adults: a scoping review

There is ample evidence that senior day centres can provide rehabilitation, increase activity and support social participation for older adults.

The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the scientific literature in this field and investigate whether there is scientific evidence for the efficacy of rehabilitation interventions at senior day centres for older adults.

The scoping review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Data were collected from databases between January 2010 and December 2020 and updated December 2023. The scoping review was conducted in the databases CINAHL, Cochrane Library and PubMed and 29 articles were identified for inclusion.

Rehabilitation interventions at the senior day centres varied considerably. The main findings concern interventions of a physical, cognitive and/or social character. The most common dimensions of outcome were improvements in physical and cognitive ability and quality of life. There was also considerable variation in the professionals involved. Other important factors to observe when participating in interventions at senior day centres could be loneliness and risk of falls.

While rehabilitation interventions at senior day centres are striving towards person-centred care, there is room for improvement to meet older adults' individual needs. In conclusion, this scoping review shows that greater focus is needed to strengthen the evidence base for examine interventions that are most effective in these settings.