Carefield Pleasanton Memory Care

Linda

My father has moved into Carefield Pleasanton Memory Care. He has been fine there, aside from the adjustment period, and still wanting to go home. It's strictly memory care there. They have about 40 residents, but it's kind of a big circle and they have a huge outdoor area in the middle with places to sit. There are lots of room for him to wander around with his walker. The staff has been great and very helpful. Sometimes it takes a few phone calls, but I understand they've got 40 other people that they're doing stuff with. It's big and open and the ceilings are high. Mom was much more comfortable thinking that my father would be there and be able to move around. The staff in the administration has been always very responsive. I've had to follow up a few times, but that's, I think, part of moving in, in a new situation and needing to get him a new doctor and just getting things established. We're happy with the situation as best as we can under the circumstances. Their rooms can be a studio, private or a shared room. My father started in a shared room, but he was too agitated, so they moved him to a private room and they haven't put a roommate in there with him yet. So far, they're not charging us for the private room. I figure eventually he'll have a roommate and hopefully he can manage. They have their own bathroom and shower. He's happy with the food. Two hours after he had breakfast, he'll wake up from a nap and say he's hungry and wants breakfast, and they cook him more food. He says the food's good and he likes to eat. When we were there this morning, a guy was there playing the violin. They have an activity room, where they do puzzles and they try to get people to interact. From what I've seen, they do their best.

SP

We like Carefield Pleasanton Memory Care. The only downside was (it's not that big a distance), but it would take us 45 minutes to an hour to get there because of traffic and stuff. The Bay Area traffic is a total nightmare and you're only going a few miles up the freeway and that can take you an hour. In the event of an emergency, I don't want a place that's far away. The staff there was very nice. We saw two people and we also met the chef that came in and gave us samples of their food which were excellent. My sister especially liked the rooms. They were much larger. It allows you to bring more of your own furniture and personal belongings from home. Even if you're sharing a room, it was much, much bigger. These rooms were large enough to bring in a recliner, an extra chair, your dresser from home, put up your own TV on the wall. It was a newer facility and it catered to much larger rooms so that you could have a living space. If it was a private room, you had room for a lot of furniture in there if you wanted to bring personal items. There was room there for tables and chairs, a sofa if you wanted visitors and that kind of stuff. We like the facility. I saw a room where people were playing bingo. The downside for me was the facility was too big. I like the idea that these rooms were large, but in doing so, it also meant you had large corridors and I was afraid that my mother would never find her way back to the room. I love the birdcages. I walked in and they had several birds in this birdcage. My mother is a huge fan of birds. She always has birdfeeders out and feeds all the birds in her yard. This large cage with four or five little parakeets or whatever just filled up the whole room when you walked into the lobby. The lobby was bigger than my house. I would be very happy eating there, but we only had some appetizers and a dessert and I took the rest of the dessert with me. I just thought it was too large to navigate for somebody that has memory issues.

Rod

I selected Carefield Pleasanton Memory Care for my mother. I liked the look, it was just recently remodelled, and they're only about 50% capacity, because they re-opened right about the time covid-19 started. They've been very responsive, it seems like my mom is getting good care, but it's hard to know what's going on because I can't go inside. I can just visit her through the window, or talk on the phone. The staff is very responsive, we were able to resolve one issue when I talked to the director, and she also gave me her cell phone number so I can contact her any time and day of the week. That made me a little comfortable about the situation. She has been there about 3 weeks now, she thinks the food is great, the chef comes out and mingles with the residents, and she thinks that's pretty cool. I was able to go in and set her room up, I got a private room, it was well maintained, and it has new floors and a new restroom. The building was clean. It was the most affordable for the resources they offer.