本研究旨於探討社區老人對日間照顧服務之認知與使用意願。取樣對象為65歲以上住在自己家中之老年人；有效樣本共計294人（男134人，女160人）。研究工具為自行發展編制之問卷。本研究發現：（一）除了性別之外，年齡、教育程度、婚姻狀況、有無子女、經濟來源、罹病數等都會影響對於日間照顧之認知。（二）在對日間照顧的認知方面：六成七的受訪社區老人表示沒聽說過日間照顧服務；知道這項服務的長者多半由子女處得知佔最多數。（三）目前正接受社區照顧服務之受訪者共29名，他們對於日間照顧服務之認知顯著地高過未接受社區照顧服務之受訪長者。（四）已婚且與配偶同住者、及有子女之受訪者，對於日間照顧服務之認知顯著地低於無子女及喪偶長者。（五）受訪者認為日間照顧服務以生活照顧最重要，其次為專業護理服務，第三則是醫療服務。（六）費用部分：七成六的受訪者表示恰當之日間照顧費用介於7,001-10,000元間；20.7%認為介於10,001-13,000元。這明顯地低於目前的日間照顧服務收費標準。

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception and intention of the community-dwelling elders on using day care services. A questionnaire has been developed as the research tool to collect quantitative data. As a result, out of 300 participants had been surveyed, 294 questionnaires (98%) are returned as being valid. Among the surveyed participants, there are 134 males and 160 females. Major findings of this study were summarized as follows : (1) Participants who have different background variables including age, education level, marital status, having children or not, financial support and health status have significant perception difference on day care services. (2) 67% of the participants have never heard about day care; those who have already known this service are mostly got this message from their children. (3) Among the 274 participants, there are only 29 who are using the community care services at present, their intention of using day care services is significant higher than those who have never used the community care system. (4) Marital status is also related with the perception of the day care services. (5) Most participants believed that the most important mission of day care service is to apply life-care, professional nursing care and then medical care services. (6) As for the service charge, 76% of the participants think that the reasonable charge is 7001-10000 TWDs for the monthly day care services, 20.7% think 10001-13000 TWDs would be reasonable. This is obviously lower than the present day care service charge.