NPALS Adult Day Services Center Survey

Overview

The National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study (NPALS) provides information on major sectors of paid, regulated post-acute and long-term care services providers and services users, including adult day services centers. The NPALS Adult Day Services Center (ADSC) Survey collects information about adult day services centers from their directors.

The NPALS ADSC Survey provides insight into how adult day services centers meet the needs of the older population and younger disabled adults. Data from this study informs helpful comparisons, research, and policy.

Why participate

The most reliable information comes directly from providers like you. For policymakers to make solid, evidence-based decisions about long-term care in the United States, it is essential that we collect these data.

Participation in the ADSC Survey helps further our nation's understanding of the long-term care needs of the older population and younger disabled adults. Several national organizations representing ADSCs support and encourage participation in NPALS. These include—

• National Adult Day Services Association
• LeadingAge
• ADvancing States

See their joint letter of support.

Participation is the ADSC Survey is voluntary. If selected centers don't participate, their unique qualities will not be represented in NPALS, making the results less accurate.

Who can participate

Only adult day services centers that are invited to join can participate in the ADSC Survey. The survey includes a scientifically selected, nationally representative sample of approximately 1,650 adult day services centers operating in the United States. Those selected represent not only their adult day center, but also other comparable adult day services centers of the same size and in the same part of the country.

The NPALS ADSC Survey is usually conducted every other year, occurring in even years (2024, 2026, 2028, etc.). Each cycle, we will invite some adult day service centers that have provided data for a previous NPALS to participate again in the current year. Participation in the current year's survey is important to ensure NPALS has up-to-date information about adult day services centers, other long-term care services providers, and the people they serve. This allows us to provide current information and to detect changes in the long-term care industry over time.

Your privacy

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) takes participant privacy very seriously. We do not release the names of adult day service centers that participate in the survey to anyone. This protects the privacy of individual centers and the participants they serve.

Only NCHS employees working directly on this project, our specially designated agents (including contractors managing the survey), and our full research partners can see facilities' information collected in the survey.

Anyone else can only use your data after all information that could identify your facility and service users has been removed. All information that relates to or describes identifiable characteristics of ADSC facilities and their users is combined with other facilities' information before it is released. This protects everyone’s identity.

Legal protections

NCHS staff, contractors, agents, and full research partners will not disclose or release responses in identifiable form without the consent of the individual or establishment in accordance with—

• Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)), and
• The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA Pub. L. No. 115-435, 132 Stat. 5529 § 302).

In accordance with CIPSEA, every NCHS employee, contractor, and agent has taken an oath and is subject to a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both if they willfully disclose ANY identifiable information about you.

NCHS also complies with the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §§ 151 and 151 note), which protects federal information systems from cybersecurity risks by screening their networks.

The Privacy Rule mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not apply to NPALS. This study is not subject to the rule because it does not collect any personally identifiable information, like names, social security numbers, or birth dates of residential care community patients.

How data are collected

NPALS survey data are collected from adult day services center directors, administrators, or their designated staff through provider and services user questionnaires. NCHS contracts with RTI International to collect the NPALS survey data. RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research organization and is a designated agent of NCHS.

How findings are used

NPALS data are used to describe and understand how long-term care services are delivered and the changes that occur in the delivery of those services over time. Users of NPALS data include—

• U.S. Congress and other public health policy makers
• Government agencies
• The long-term care industry, long-term care providers, and long-term care users
• Academic institutions
• Professional associations
• Health services researchers
• The media and the public