GARDENS OF SUN CITY, THE

The Gardens of Sun City is a licensed assisted living center on North Boswell Boulevard in Sun City, Arizona, operated by Stellar Senior Living. State licensing records from the Arizona Department of Health Services list a capacity of 83 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.

The Gardens of Sun City offers assisted living and memory care in Sun City. The community says its apartments are furnished and that services include personalized help with activities of daily living and medication management, and it offers care programs for older adults living with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, as well as short-term stays. Common spaces include restaurant-style dining, a spacious activity center, and a full-service barber and beauty salon, and the calendar includes social and recreational events.

The community invites prospective residents to a complimentary lunch or dinner during a visit. 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. Offering assisted living and memory care in the same community means a resident whose memory changes over time may be able to move to the memory care setting without changing communities. It helps to ask how that transition is decided and who is involved. 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 Sun City address keeps the community within reach of the area's hospitals, shopping, and services.

When visiting The Gardens of Sun City, it helps to ask who completes the move-in assessment, how often care plans are updated, how many caregivers are on duty overnight, and how the team communicates with families. Local Senior Advisor is a free service to families, and a local advisor can help you weigh The Gardens of Sun City against other options around Sun City and plan the questions to bring on a visit.