ALTA VISTA

Alta Vista Senior Living is a licensed assisted living center on Canterbury Lane in Prescott, Arizona. State licensing records from the Arizona Department of Health Services list a capacity of 59 residents and approval to provide directed care, the highest of Arizona's three assisted living service levels, which allows the community to serve residents who are unable to direct their own care, including many people living with dementia.

Alta Vista Senior Living offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care in Prescott, along with respite and short-term stays. The community lists maintenance-free apartment homes, fitness classes, activities, transportation, and a private movie theater. Alta Vista reports being named the top assisted living community in Prescott three years in a row in a local readers' poll. In Arizona, assisted living centers serve eleven or more residents and are licensed by the Department of Health Services at one of three service levels.

Supervisory care covers general supervision and help in an emergency, personal care adds hands-on help with activities such as bathing, dressing, and medications, and directed care is for residents who can no longer recognize danger or direct their own care. Knowing a community's level helps families judge whether it can keep meeting a loved one's needs over time. Because Alta Vista Senior Living offers more than one level of living, it can suit couples whose needs differ, or someone who is independent today but wants a plan if more support is needed later.

A move from one level to another usually begins with a new assessment, so it helps to ask how that process works. Arizona rules require an assisted living facility to prepare a written service plan for each resident that describes the care and services to be provided, and to review and update it as needs change. Families can ask to take part in that review and to learn who to call when something in the plan no longer fits.

Families can look up a community's license and inspection history on the state's AZ Care Check website before a visit, and reading recent inspection reports can show how a community has responded to any past findings. The Prescott address keeps the community within reach of the area's hospitals, shopping, and services. On a tour of Alta Vista Senior Living, ask how the move-in assessment works, how the service plan is reviewed as needs change, how staffing looks on nights and weekends, and how families are kept informed.

Local Senior Advisor is a free service to families. If you would like help comparing Alta Vista Senior Living with other communities in Prescott, or deciding which level of care fits, reach out for a short conversation.