Dr. Aideen Hartney:

Adult day services are being run under the new directions policy. We have found in our work over the years that there are varying levels of understanding of what is encompassed in the new directions policy. The policy is established on 12 principles to foster independence for people attending those services. It promotes meaningful activities during the day that are of the person's choosing to help them build their interaction with society. One of the projects we have under way is to work with the HSE to develop an outcomes-based monitoring framework for new direction services. Hopefully, that will develop a framework that will lead to some of that standardisation. It is not that the curriculum per se or the scope of activities will be standardised or mandated but, rather, that they will have fidelity to the 12 principles and that the outcomes the person had chosen for themselves will be realised through those activities. We absolutely agree there is variability out there. Hopefully, some of these pieces of work will help address some of that.