10 Best Assisted Living Facilities in Riverside, CA

In Riverside, older adults and their families usually cover assisted living costs by combining private and public funding sources. It’s common for a senior to pay out of their personal savings for room and board in assisted living while using Medicare to cover qualified medical expenses.

For those looking for ways to pay for assisted living in Riverside, your financial options may include private resources, benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and public pay programs, such as Medicaid. In the sections below, we outline a variety of ways to cover assisted living expenses in Riverside.

In Riverside, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) monitors and licenses assisted living facilities. It’s important to note that senior care facilities in California are usually referred to as “residential care facilities for the elderly” on state government websites.

The CDSS also oversees continuing care retirement communities, commonly called CCRCs, in California. CCRCs typically provide the following on a single senior living campus:

• Independent living
• Assisted living
• Memory care
• Skilled nursing services

Riverside assisted living communities and residential care homes are subject to California’s Residential Regulations. Generally, elder Californians must be assessed before joining an assisted living community in California. Each assisted living facility is typically responsible for interviewing a potential resident and reviewing their health records.

As outlined in the rules and regulations for California, assisted living facilities are required to follow these regulations:

• Restrict the number of residents per room
• Provide individual privacy in bathrooms
• Maintain clean and accessible common areas in their communities
• Offer activities that support social, leisure, and daily living skills

When considering a potential assisted living community in Riverside, you may want to review inspection reports. CDSS inspects assisted living communities on a regular basis. Inspection reports for each licensed community can be found through the CDSS Care Facility Search.

To use this search, you’ll need to scroll down to “Search By Facility Group,” and select “Elderly Assisted Living.” After that, the search system will prompt you to input additional details to find the specific community you’re looking up. You may need to conduct multiple searches to view all of your prospective communities’ reports.

Department of Health contact information

California Department of Public Health
1616 Capitol Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95899
Phone: 916-558-1784

COVID-19 regulations for Riverside assisted living facilities

While California’s COVID State of Emergency has ended, the state still provides COVID-19 best practice recommendations to Californians as noted below. It’s important to keep in mind that some assisted living communities may have their own guidelines.

If you’re considering assisted living in Riverside, it’s important to know about the assisted living options available through A Place for Mom’s partner communities.

Activities in Riverside assisted living communities

Assisted living communities in Riverside help to create an engaging atmosphere for older adults through a variety of activities. Riverside assisted living communities typically offer the following types of activities on-site:

• Cultural and devotional services, such as services or visiting clergy
• Educational classes, such as art classes or lifelong learning programs
• Entertainment and celebrations, like happy hours, karaoke, and birthday parties
• Fitness and wellness programs, which could include tai chi, stretching classes, or water aerobics

Amenities and services in Riverside assisted living communities

Communities with a larger footprint in Riverside may offer more amenities. Common on-site amenities in these communities may include the following:

• Fitness centers
• Game rooms
• Libraries
• Beauty salons
• Outdoor spaces, such as patios, balconies, or walking trails

It’s important to note that more intimate assisted living options may provide more privacy in lieu of vast amenities.

Additionally, assisted living communities in Riverside offer valuable services that support residents’ daily lives. These may include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Dining services
• Personal and nursing care
• Housekeeping and linen or laundry services
• Landscaping and maintenance
• Transportation

Some of these services may incur additional fees at select communities. If a specific service is important to your loved one, make sure to confirm availability and pricing with a prospective community.

Combined senior care

For senior living facilities in Riverside, it’s not unusual to offer more than just assisted living on their campus. They may offer an independent living or memory care wing, as well. Skilled nursing services may be able as an add-on at some communities, too. This can be helpful if you prefer to age in place at one community versus moving to another community in the future.

Residential care homes

In Riverside, this type of assisted living is often referred to as board and care homes or residential care homes. This type of assisted living typically houses a smaller number of residents than larger communities, which allows for personalized care in a more intimate home-like setting. For some seniors, it may help ease the transition into assisted living to move into an environment that closely mimics a house in Riverside.

Religious-focused communities

The majority of A Place for Mom’s partner communities in Riverside offer cultural and devotional services on-site, which may include the following:

• Bible study groups
• Christian, Catholic, Jewish, or Mormon services
• Devotional activities
• Visiting chaplains, priests, or rabbis

For seniors who consider their faith a large part of their lives, these communities may make them feel at home, allow them to continue with their faith in assisted living, and help them connect with other residents through a shared faith.

Situated in a high-population center in California, Riverside and the surrounding areas offer easy access to a number of medical providers, hospitals, and more in the region. Below are some highly rated options for health care in or close to Riverside for seniors.

Riverside is most easily traveled via personal vehicle. For seniors who are in good health and have a valid driver’s license, it may make sense to travel in their own car. If you plan to bring your vehicle with you to an assisted living community in Riverside, you should talk to the prospective community in advance to see if on-site parking is available and how much it may cost to park on-site. In this region of California, it’s common for parking to be limited. Even if a community has on-site parking, there may not be a parking spot available and you may wind up on a waiting list.

If you chose to no longer drive, you’ll be happy to know that most of the A Place for Mom partner communities offer transportation options to residents. If this is an important service to you, it’s a good idea to ask prospective communities for full details on how their individual transportation service works, what hours it operates, and how much it costs. There are also public transportation options in the area geared toward older adults, some of which we’ve outlined below.

Riverside Connect

As an origin-to-destination service, Riverside Connect’s Special Transportation Division is operated by the City of Riverside to assist people 60+ and people with disabilities. It’s important to note that advance reservations are required to use this service. Riders may request to be transported anywhere within city limits.

Those who are considered to be ADA-certified passengers may bring a personal care attendant with them at no charge. For non-ADA certified passengers, additional companions may be charged a small fee to ride with them.

It’s a good idea to reserve a ride time, at least two days in advance by calling Riverside Connect at 951-687-8080.

Riverside Transit Agency

The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) offers a program called Dial-A-Ride for seniors and people with disabilities. This advanced reservation transportation service offers priority to people who are certified under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, service is limited to areas within three-quarters of a mile of an RTA fixed route. It’s a good idea to reserve a ride with advance notice.

Those interested in reserving a ride can call 800-795-7887. TTY users can dial 800-369-3610.

For seniors who are more active, it may be easier to walk to an RTA stop to ride on established RTA bus lines than trying to reserve a spot on Dial-A-Ride.

Riverside Walk Score

Walk Score rates Riverside on the metrics below, calculated out of 100 and which detail how easy or challenging it can be to travel through the city via certain types of transportation. These scores can be useful to people residing in Riverside and their visiting family members.

As a strong arts and culture community, Riverside offers many things to do for older adults and their family members. We highlight some of those dynamic features of Riverside below. You can also check out Visit California — Riverside website for a more thorough outline of the area’s offerings. It’s always a good idea to call ahead to learn if places offer special pricing and accessibility options for seniors.

For those who enjoy exploring local culture, you can take in the internationally renowned Riverside arts scene at any of the following locations:

• The Culver Center of the Arts
• The UCR California Museum of Photography and Culver Center of the Arts
• The Fox Performing Arts Center
• The Riverside Art Museum

If you appreciate nature and the outdoors, the charming landscapes of this Southern California city will inspire you. Take a stroll through the University of California Riverside (UCR) Botanic Gardens or the nearby California Citrus State Historic Park. There are extensive notable locations to enjoy the outdoors when you live in Riverside.

For seniors or their families who enjoy light exercise, history, and seeing the sights, there’s also a Historical Riverside Downtown Walking Guide available. This walking map outlines historic buildings while you walk through downtown Riverside.