Understanding the Experiences of Family Caregivers of Persons Living With Dementia Participating in an ‘Overnight’ Adult Day Program

Family caregivers of persons with dementia often face chronic stress, disrupted sleep, and emotional exhaustion. While adult day programs provide daytime respite, support during nighttime, when caregiving responsibilities can intensify, remains limited. "Overnight" adult day programs are a promising yet underexplored model that offers short-term respite by extending adult day program care into evening and overnight hours. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 15 family caregivers of community-dwelling individuals with moderate to advanced dementia who participated in an innovative program that combines a day program with short-term overnight respite in British Columbia, Canada. As part of a focused ethnography, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with family caregivers between July and December 2023. Data were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's framework to identify patterns in caregivers' perceptions of and experiences with the program. The findings demonstrated that: (1) family caregivers emphasized the importance of trust and continuity, built through consistent staffing and familiarity with the environment, which enabled confidence in leaving their relatives overnight, and (2) the program provided meaningful respite, allowing caregivers to rest, attend to personal needs, reconnect socially, and sustain their caregiving capacity while strengthening relationships at home. These findings highlight the potentially transformative role of short-term overnight respite in combination with adult day programs in enhancing family caregiver well-being and sustaining caregiving in community. This study adds to a growing body of evidence calling for more flexible, person-centered respite models tailored to the realities of dementia caregiving in the community.