Proclamation 5855

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

The number of older Americans continues to grow, thanks in part to advances in medical care and technology and better understanding of the ways nutrition, behavior, and environment affect health. Most senior citizens are active in their communities; but some cannot be so. For them we seek ways to continue or initiate every possible measure of independence, dignity, and integration in family and community life. We do so not only out of recognition of all that today's older citizens have achieved over the years, but also because of our long national history and heritage of respect for the elderly and reverence for the individual dignity and worth inherent in each of us alike.

One way that Americans are helping older citizens is by establishing adult day care centers. Some 1,200 such centers now serve older Americans who are frail, disabled, or requiring regular medical care and who might otherwise need care in a long-term facility. These centers often exist in hospitals, nursing homes, and senior centers; they offer a range of programs from health services to therapy, meals, and social activities. The centers benefit the elderly-and give a vital assist to dedicated family caregivers so they can meet their own needs.

The number of adult day care centers has grown rapidly over the past two decades, and State and Area Agencies on Aging, as well as social service and health care agencies, support the creation of additional centers across our country. Concerned citizens can and should work with their States and Area Agencies on Aging to see that their community has one of these truly beneficial adult day care center programs.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-344, has designated the week beginning on the third Sunday of September 1988 as "National Adult Day Care Center Week" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning the third Sunday of September 1988 as National Adult Day Care Center Week, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe this occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:17 a. m., September 9, 1988]