SIERRA DEL SOL

Sierra Del Sol is a licensed assisted living center on East Speedway Boulevard in Tucson, Arizona, operated by Cascade Living Group. State licensing records from the Arizona Department of Health Services list a capacity of 140 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.

Sierra Del Sol is a resort-style senior living community on the east side of Tucson offering assisted living and memory care with what it calls a Southwestern flair. It serves families from across the region, including Green Valley, Sahuarita, Vail, Nogales, Sierra Vista, and Benson. Because both levels of care are on site, the community notes that couples can stay close together even when their care needs differ.

The community calls its assisted living supportive living: staff help with activities of daily living such as dressing and grooming and give gentle medication reminders, working with each resident on a daily plan of care that reflects individual interests, needs, and wishes. 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 Tucson address keeps the community within reach of the area's hospitals, shopping, and services. When visiting Sierra Del Sol, 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 Sierra Del Sol against other options around Tucson and plan the questions to bring on a visit.