Saulsbury Facility

Caregivers would sometimes go MIA for a couple of hours.

Distinctive Care at 14th and Saulsbury in Lakewood Colorado is a small assisted living facility. They have twelve private rooms and it is has a friendly home like atmosphere. My Mother was a resident at Distinctive Care for a little over two years and it was the perfect place for her. She was in her nineties, has suffered vision loss and as time went by became more confused. She needed a great deal of help with most all daily activities. She had physical strength and could walk on her own but with the blindness and mental confusion life was challenging for her. I visited her at Distinctive Care on a regular basis, and took her to DR appointments and the Dentist. During that time I had plenty of opportunity to interact with her and the staff. The Owner and staff at Distinctive care did a great job of taking care of her and providing for her needs. She was much better off and had a better quality of live then she would have had in a nursing home. I would highly recommend Distinctive Care to anyone with the kind of needs that my mother had. Bill H

Distinctive Care is a Board & Care home that provides a moderate level of personal care but isn't really geared to those with high physical or cognitive needs. I know it both from personal experience (my great grandmother lived there for about 9 months) and professionally (I'm a social worker). It's located in an older, well established neighborhood in Lakewood, about 20 minutes west of downtown Denver. It's easy to get there, but the parking can be difficult. And it's on the corner of a busy street, so there's lots of traffic noise. The facility itself is a big house, less than 10 years old, I think. And it's aesthetically pleasing, with nice front and back porches. It's a beautiful, well maintained building. Lots of light, high ceilings. The rooms themselves are small, with a toilet and sink in the room and a community bathroom with a walk-in tub. The real downside is the direct care staff. They're mediocre. They've had little training. And the owner, although there quite a bit, isn't the warmest person. She has good intentions, but she's hard to approach, a little grouchy--and she has no medical background. Probably because of that, they tend to send people out to the hospital when they have health issues. The food is also mediocre. The caregivers prepare it. Lots of pasta. Simple meals. Despite all that, my grandmother like it well enough there to stay for 9 months--mostly because she liked one man on the direct care staff who took care of her. When he left, she decided to leave, too. I've been less impressed with the care there than she was.