Selecting the Senior Living option that fits you best
Our consultants are specialized in connecting those searching for senior living communities in Santa Barbara County with the homes that best fit their individual needs, with consideration to social, medical, and financial requirements.
These are the kind of communities available:
INDEPENDENT LIVING COMMUNITIES
Nested in some of the most desirable areas of Santa Barbara, these beautiful communities provide private, often quite spacious homes — apartments, cottages, houses, or condos — in a supported senior living setting with vibrant social engagement opportunities and a variety of amenities, including fitness centers, restaurants, theaters, library, beauty salons, sports courts, and more.
Residents enjoy the safety and convenience of living in a well maintained community, while keeping their independent lifestyle. No personal or medical care is provided as part of the regular services.
ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITIES
Found in all shapes and sizes, these communities provide a safe and comfortable living environment for residents who need assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs).
They often offer some of the same services and amenities found in independent living communities, but with additional care staff trained to provide assistance with managing medication, bathing, dressing, transferring, meals, and other everyday activities as needed.
In coordination with with the resident’s physicians, the community can facilitate the on-site deliverance of some needed medical and therapeutic services, which can be provided by licensed professionals and outside health agencies.
BOARD & CARE HOMES
or RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES FOR THE ELDERLY (RCFEs)
Frequently referred to as board & care homes, these homes provide care to no more than six residents, and offer services similar to those of a larger assisted living community, but in a more intimate setting.
Board & care homes are designed to blend in residential neighborhoods — you may have driven in front of them a thousand times without realizing they are there. They are often run and administered by a single family, and they provide a lovely, homelike lifestyle.
Residents may have their choice of private or shared rooms, and share the other areas of the home such as living and dining rooms, patios, and varandas. All meals are prepared in the home, cleaning and laundry is included, and assistance with ADLs and medication management is provided. Staff can also work with the residents’ doctors to coordinate deliverance of medical services.
Some board & care homes are also able to care for residents affected with cognitive impairment and dementia.
MEMORY CARE COMMUNITIES
These are assisted living communities in which the environment and services are especially designed to attend to the particular needs of residents affected with any of the many forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, and Lewy Bodies Dementia.
They differ from a regular assisted living community in many ways: the staff receives additional special training for caring and communicating with residents with dementia; the activities offered are designed to promote participation and enhance cognition, and tailored to each resident’s ability to participate and succeed; care is person centered, and each resident’s care plan is meticulously created to fulfill their individual needs; the rooms and common areas are designed to promote freedom of movement while minimizing fall risk. Most memory care facilities are equipped with elopement prevention features, such as alarmed doors and wander alert systems. Some are secured.
CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES
These retirement communities offer all of the above levels–independent, assisted, memory care–within their campus, and a resident can move in at any of those levels and move up or down a level, if and when it becomes necessary.
Continuing Care Communities have an “Age in Place” approach to retirement, where the community can accommodate the different levels of assistance required as their residents age, without having to move them somewhere else for their care.
Which community is the best one for you?
Call for your FREE, in-person assessment and our expert local consultants will provide you with all the information you need to decide for yourself:
The CHOICE is yours!
The California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division is responsible for the oversight of these communities for compliance with licensing laws and regulations regarding buildings and grounds, accommodations, care and supervision of residents, and quality of service.