Last verified: October 2026
Does dementia require a nursing home in Arizona?
No. Most people with dementia in Arizona can live in an assisted living facility licensed for directed care; a nursing home becomes necessary when medical needs, not memory loss alone, exceed what assisted living may provide.
39 Pima County centers and 257 homes are licensed for directed care.
Which changes mean a move to a nursing home?
Arizona's directed care rule bars accepting or keeping a resident who cannot walk even with help and is confined to bed or chair, or who has a stage 3 or 4 pressure sore, unless a physician-backed exception is in place; continuous nursing needs also require a nursing home.
Can hospice let a resident stay in memory care?
Often, yes: a resident receiving services from a licensed hospice agency can usually stay in their directed care home or center, which avoids a final move.
Ask any memory care provider how many residents it has cared for on hospice.
How do costs compare?
Arizona's 2025 semi-private nursing home median is about $8,365 a month; no memory-care median is published, and ALTCS covers room and board only in the nursing home.
For ALTCS families that difference can decide the setting.
What do the public records show for each?
Nursing homes carry CMS ratings, staffing hours and survey results; directed care facilities have the ADHS inspection and enforcement record on AZ Care Check.
Directed care list · Nursing homes
What does a good dementia care plan include in either setting?
A good plan describes the person's routines and preferences, how they communicate distress, what calms them, how falls and nighttime wandering are prevented, and when the family will be called.
Arizona's rules require a service plan in assisted living; nursing homes prepare a care plan under federal rules. Ask to help write it.
How can families stay involved after a move?
Visit at different times, join care-plan meetings, bring familiar music and photos, and keep a short list of questions for the manager or nurse each week.
If a concern is not resolved, the long-term care ombudsman at Pima Council on Aging, (520) 790-7262, can help.
Which costs should a dementia family compare side by side?
Compare the total monthly charge at the current care level and the next one, one-time community fees, the cost of incontinence supplies, and whether ALTCS covers room and board in that setting.
Directed care rates are not published as a median anywhere, so written quotes are the only comparison that means anything.
Directed care vs. nursing home for dementia
| Directed care assisted living | Nursing home | |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing | intermittent | 24-hour |
| Bed-bound residents | only by exception | yes |
| ALTCS room and board | member pays | included |
