California Assisted Living

California is home to a fantastic mix of independent living developments, assisted living centers and continuing care retirement communities, catering to aging adults that are independent yet may need a bit of assistance, even if that assistance is just having someone take care of home maintenance. It’s also an opportunity to downsize from a house that is now too big and expensive, to something that better suits their empty-nest lifestyle.

Determining which type of senior living community in California will best meet their needs is just a matter of considering how the aging process may be impacting their ability to get through the basics of each day. In some cases, these basics begin to present challenges that are annoying at best, and at worst, maybe a bit riskier than they should be. In other cases, seniors need no personal care but are tired of mowing the lawn, cleaning out gutters, painting and making repairs around the house. They are still very active and nowhere near ready to give up their freedom to come and go as they please.

For these California seniors, there are senior living choices that fit each of these scenarios, as well as some that are offering continuing care that allows them to age in place.

Types of Senior Living Communities in California

While many 55+ senior living communities in California are focused on assisted living, we have looked at many of the variations on this theme so aging adults can get a good sense of what the future holds in store for them.

Stage One – Independent Living

Getting a bit slow, a bit hard of hearing, and in need of reading glasses that seem to get increasingly stronger with each passing year - none of this marks the end of an independent lifestyle. It says nothing about a senior citizen’s ability to get behind the wheel of a car and go where they please. They are still perfectly capable, and even anxious, to continue to live a full and interesting life in whatever way works best for them. This is what California independent living communities, +55 senior communities, and adults-only residential communities offer aging adults.

Seniors find the opportunity to downsize from a house that is now too big for them while gaining the advantage of having a maintenance team in place to care for just about all of the maintenance around them home that they may need. Plus, they gain access to many great community amenities and the community itself, where seniors have the chance to meet new friends and build new and lasting relationships that help make life a fulfilling adventure.

Stage Two – Assisted Living

At some point, seniors may find that getting through the basics of each day is becoming a bit too challenging. This often starts with tasks related to hygiene, and may include mobility challenges. Memory may also start failing so taking daily medications starts to suffer, and along with that, treatment outcomes begin to fall short of expectations. Seniors in this category are still lively and anxious to enjoy as independent a life as possible. They just need a bit of a helping hand to ensure they can continue to get the most from life.

This is where California senior assisted living comes into focus. These senior care communities offer Assisted Daily Living services that meet all of these aging challenges, while ensuring seniors find plenty to enjoy, including a community of seniors to enjoy life with. Senior assisted living centers in California are built on the assumption that a little goes a very long way, so with just the assistance an individual senior requires, life continues to unfold beautifully.

Stage Three – Memory Care

For California seniors that are suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, there is another type of care available. The is commonly known as memory care and is most often an extension of a senior assisted living community.

In these areas of the assisted senior living community, seniors enjoy a greater level of care and security. They also enjoy some unique therapies that focus specifically on recovering lost memories while slowing the progress of these diseases. These sections of the senior community are more organized so frustrations and the resulting anxiety that comes with frustration are minimized. This helps tamp down the influence negative emotions can have of behaviors that can put the senior and the community at risk.

Evolving Care – Continuing Care

Continuing care, commonly known as CCRC, is also available in California where seniors can settle into an independent living community, and as age presents seniors with new challenges, there are care options that will effectively grow to meet them. This happens without the need to find a new community or to transition into a unique senior assisted living facility. This continuing care is also referred to as continuum care but in the end, it all comes sown to allowing seniors to move once and age in place.

Top 5 Senior living Communities in California

Coming up with a list of the 5 best California independent living communities / senior assisted living communities isn’t an exact science. There are simply too many variables to say with absolute certainty that one 55+ senior retirement community is better than another. So rather than looking at all of those variables, we are looking directly at the opinions of residents and their loved ones as the best way to get a real evaluation of these senior communities and care centers.

Even that, however, can be a bit tricky. There are more than a few retirement communities in California that appear to have perfect 5-star ratings and less than a handful of published reviews. For our ranking purposes, we assume these are biased and pass them over. There are many senior living communities and care centers in the state of California that have no ratings at all. We also pass them over since no rating gives us nothing to compare against.

For our list of the 5 best senior living communities, we include only those senior living communities and assisted living communities that have better than a 4-star rating and 20 or so published reviews, and we look to ensure those reviews are relatively fresh so we can be reasonably confident that they apply to today’s reality.

So, with that said, here are our top 5 senior retirement communities in California.

Carlsbad By The Sea Retirement Community – 4.6-stars - 45 Reviews – Carlsbad, California is home to this continuing care retirement community where seniors will find independent living, assisted living, including memory care and nursing home care, all within this same senior living community. The seaside setting is picturesque, with fresh ocean breezes that make outdoor fun a wonderful extension of this independent living community / senior assisted living center.

Wesley Palms San Diego Retirement Community – 4.5-stars – 72 Reviews – As the name suggest, this 55+ senior living community is set in San Diego, California and also offers a mixed community for those looking for an independent living community or a senior assisted living facility. This also allows seniors the option to age in place so they have continuing care. The senior assisted living center that is part of this community also offers memory care, so dementia patients will find a home here as well.

Sterling Inn Independent & Assisted Living Community – 4.9-Stars – 19 Reviews – Set in Victorville, California, this 55+ senior living community is another mix of independent living and assisted living but does not have nursing facilities for those seniors that need a more intense level of care. The senior assisted living center does offer memory care and the independent living community offers a mix of cottages, townhomes and apartments. It doesn’t quite reach our target of 20 published reviews, but it comes close and has an exceptionally strong overall rating so we have included it on our list.

Solstice Senior Living at Santa Rosa – 4.4-Stars – 22 Reviews – As it says in the name, this independent living community is set in Santa Rosa and is structured specifically as a 55+ senior living community, with a mix of small homes, cottages and townhomes. There are no additional services, so settling in here offers no continuing care options for residents. If needed, seniors will have to transition elsewhere.

Vista del Monte Santa Barbara Retirement Community – 4.1-stars – 22 Reviews – Based in Santa Barbara, California, this is also a combined care community that provides a Seniors independent living community, along with a senior assisted living facility. It enjoys a picturesque setting typical of all of the communities in Santa Barbara, and that means great vistas, lots of open spaces and sorts of things to enjoy in what most will agree is a laid-back cosmopolitan setting.

Cost of Senior Living in California

For about $500 more per month over the national average of $4,000, older Californians can find some very good senior living communities that will be reasonably kind to their budgets. For example, Merced, CA, offer average monthly rates that are a bit less than $3,200 per month, and Riverside, CA offers rates that are still under the national average at $3,525. There are more expensive, luxury and upscale destinations as well, like St. Luis Obispo where the average monthly rate tops $5,500. So basically, there is an option for just about any budget.

California, has plenty to offer and many of these independent living communities, assisted living communities and continuing care retirement communities are very well rated. Our list is just a sample to help guide seniors through the selection process. Once they start exploring, seniors will find some really great senior living options.

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