Arizona Catholic Assisted Living

Catholic assisted living facilities in Arizona, are set throughout the state. Some are only Catholic, like The Palazzo, in Phoenix, while others are Christian and multi-denominational, like Christian Care Assisted Living Phoenix.  This combination of Catholic and Christian assisted living facilities makes for a long list of choices for the faithful to find an assisted living facility that will care for their physical wellbeing, and help nurture their souls.

Cost of Catholic Assisted Living in Arizona

Monthly rates for all assisted living facilities across Arizona, are about $250 less than the US average of $4,000. Comparing cities across the state, Yuma is the least expensive at $3,450 per month while Prescott and Phoenix tie for second at $3,500 per month. Tucson, AZ, is the most expensive, at nearly $4,700 per month, putting that city well over the US average.

Catholic Assisted Living Communities in Arizona - Amenities

Assisted living facilities in general, offer a set of assisted daily living services that meet the needs of aging seniors that are no longer able to enjoy independent living. What is different about Catholic and faith-based assisted living homes is their added commitment to nurturing the soul as they care for the body. This is a powerful combination secular homes simply can’t match and so, for the faithful in need of some assistance, faith based assisted living facilities are the only real option.

Catholic Retirement Communities in Arizona - Religious Amenities

Faith, for the truly faithful, isn’t something that they bring out on occasion. Instead, it is something that guides every aspect of their lives. In that same way, Catholic assisted living homes are guided by their faith and every aspect of the care they offer is influenced by that faith. It is this commitment to faith that allows them to truly care for both body and soul, and seniors should not be surprised if their caregiver stops and says a little prayer before helping them out of bed or into the bath. Nor should they be surprised if those same caregivers are seated next to them during Sunday service.

In these assisted living facilities, catholic traditions will be followed consistently. That means things stop at specific times each day so the community can stop and offer prayers. It means that menus change during the Lenten season. It means that Christmas is still Christmas and Easter is still about sacrifice rather than rabbits and chocolate. These are moments that help strengthen the community as they give thanks to the Lord for all their blessings.

Life in a Catholic assisted living facility includes activities that might even be frowned upon in secular facilities. In those centers, it will be rare to find prayer warriors and bible studies but in Catholic assisted living facilities, these are common place parts of every day’s organized activities. So are community outreach programs where seniors and members of the larger community come together and help each other. For example, seniors can volunteer as mentors or as leader of bible studies. The community outside the center can offer companionship, entertainment and more than help seniors feel loved, wanted and needed.

Faithful seniors joining a Catholic assisted living facility will have been part of, and may still be part of a parish community where they are known and loved. Seniors will be encouraged, indeed assisted, to remain connected to that parish so seniors need not worry about losing their connections as they become part of a new community of faithful individuals.

Catholic Senior Living Communities in Arizona - Amenities

There are really two categories of care, within a group of general amenities, seniors should expect from every assisted living facility, whether faith-based or not. Amenities at ALF (Assisted Living Facilities) include basic care for every senior, and special care for seniors that are dealing with the difficult challenges that come with Alzheimer’s and other related dementias.

Special care is commonly referred to as Memory care and this includes very focused care on dealing with the symptoms of dementia. First, seniors caught up in this are forgetful and can wander off and become lost. So, the first thing this category of care provides is a safe space where seniors are free but secured. Then in that secured space, distractions are minimized as these can exacerbate forgetfulness and lead to anxiety and frustration. Then there are specific parts of memory, using things like music for example, that seek to build new memory pathways that tap into the past and help these seniors recall pleasant times. There is more of course, but these are where good memory care often begins.

Assisted daily living tasks are those assistance tasks that help seniors deal with the minutia of daily life that used to be easy and is now too challenging to do without some help. These include help with bathing, toileting, grooming, dressing and moving from place to place and from activity to activity, throughout the day. It can also include help eating when limbs become weak and manual dexterity becomes compromised.

While living in an assisted living facility is very much about community, everyone needs some measure of private space and alone time. Private quarters provide this, in the form of shared rooms, studio suites, and one-bedroom apartments. Sizes of these will vary from one assisted living facility to another but this basic configuration is consistent.

Food is an important part of daily like, in or out of an assisted living facility. These communities spend significant effort designing menus that are delicious, that are varied, and that are nutritionally appropriate for each senior. In larger assisted living centers, these meals will be planned and prepared by professional chefs. In smaller homes they are likely to be homemade by people that approach meal prep as an opportunity to cook for family.

While faith does touch every aspect of life in a Catholic assisted living facility, seniors should not be surprised to find a wealth of activities where faith isn’t in focus. These can include craft programs that cover everything from painting and quilting, woodworking and maybe even pottery, to social activities and games that help everyone share a few laughs while having fun.

Assisted living facilities like Guardian Angel Assisted Living Home and Oasis Care Homes are pet-friendly. That means seniors will be able to live together with the dog or cat, rather than having to give them up for adoption when making the move to a care center.

When looking at just Phoenix, there are more than a dozen Catholic and Christian assisted living facilities to consider. Most are well rated, through there are a few that haven’t had enough feedback to arrive at an unbiased assessment. St. Joseph’s Huger Mercy Living center is a very good example of a Catholic assisted living center that is probably very good but with just 5 published reviews, it’s difficult to say that they have truly earned a perfect 5-star rating. Fellowship Square is another example of what appears to be a very good Catholic assisted living facilities but they also have just a handful of reviews where any one particularly positive or negative review can skew the results. Having said that, both of these and several others across Arizona are worth visiting.

Faith is a way of life and Catholic assisted living facilities provide the care and the settings that make that way of life possible for aging adults in Arizona.