Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care

Gayle

We like Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care. It was a good fit for my sister because I think there are only 40 to 50 residents, and they have a lot of activities. She's now in a facility where people can monitor her so that she eats and her nutrition intake is better. She doesn't always have the option, as far as activities that they provide, to say that I don't want to go. They highly encourage her, which I think is good. It's a memory care facility and I believe that part of her memory problem is that she just tends to be always by herself, not too much interaction with other people. Now that she's there, they take very good care of her. It's small enough. Because she was more of a loner, she probably would adjust better to being in a facility that has less people. She has a private room. She has her own shower. It's like a studio, so there's no bedroom, which is good. All is good there. There is one common dining area downstairs. My sister's room is upstairs. They can't use the elevator and the stairwells are locked. Somebody has to escort these people up or down, but if she's not in the mood to eat with a big group, there's a living room area that they convert every mealtime into separate dining areas. They cater to the residents there. The staff is really good. My visit over there was very short, but they recognized my sister. They greet everybody. They offered us a soft drink when visiting and things like that. The facilities are nice. There's a common area, like if somebody wanted to just sit outside. It's not very huge, but there's an influx of them that want to go outside to sit on the balcony or the porch area they have. The inside is always clean and very nice. When we went, it was during the time that the Olympics had just started. The person conducting the activities for the residents there had an Olympics of their own. They had asked the residents there who wanted to participate in swimming, so a few of them volunteered to do that. These people who volunteered sat in the chair and when the facilitator said on your mark, get set, go, then they would sit in the chair and move their arms like they were swimming. Whoever stopped first was eliminated. The one who kept on doing it was the winner. The rest of the residents there were grouped into countries. Then they'd be cheering on the side.

Mary.111

I went to Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care. The place is great. The tour is great. The place is a good place. The staff member was real good. She's a really good person. She was informative and understood things that are part of it when your loved one loses their memory. When I left there I almost felt like, I just felt better, like I'm not crazy. This is really hard. And she just really regretted the fact that this is a really hard thing to go through, and it just made me feel like I'm OK. This is just rough. They offer exercise and meditation. All I saw was what they offered for the hour I was there.

Daniel

We're very happy with Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care. We chose them because they seemed to be a good fit for the state that my mom was in. She's still mobile and still vibrant. She needed somebody to be with her, but she didn't need to be locked down in a room. She still can get out, do activities, be active, engage with other people, and take part in activities onsite and offsite. We've seen her do things from their Facebook page. We've seen her involved in activities we never would have thought she would have done before, so we're very happy. It's a memory care facility. They're very good. They seem to be really on top of it. They are in contact with us almost daily, just on her progress or if there is anything that comes up, we're informed about it, if there's something we can do about it, that type of thing. They've worked with us very well. The transition Is the toughest part, and they're good at that. If she's eating anything, the food's got to be a five because she's pretty picky. The activities appear to be good. The only source I can see is Facebook, but they do a very good job of updating the activities. The communication and the accessibility to see your loved one or whatever is involved in activities is excellent there. I can any time look at the Facebook page and see pretty much what she's up to. It's pretty expensive though.

Robert

My father is living in Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara. We love it. His room is perfect for him, just right. We have no complaints whatsoever and he has adjusted. The staff is wonderful. They have Bingo, exercise, trips to the beach and walks. They keep them occupied which is really well and we're very happy. The people in the office and caregivers are excellent.

SS

I enjoyed the atmosphere at Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara. It seemed like the kind of place where my husband would feel at home. They have field trips and lots of activities on-site, like games and things like that. They serve three meals a day and assigned a person to each individual. Wi-Fi is provided, and they also have public TV and go to movies and some of the local events. They have van services to take the residents places like shopping, doctors' appointments, and things of that nature. It's a relatively new community, and the rooms are really nice.