Home Care in Scottsdale, AZ

At Meridian Home Care, we come out to Scottsdale on a schedule we set ahead with your family. That might be three mornings a week for a shower and breakfast, or every evening for supper and bedtime. Planning ahead means the routine gets talked through before the first visit. We also come out to Fountain Hills, Phoenix and Cave Creek, as well as neighboring Tempe. Our home care services page lays out each kind of help, and our service areas page lists every town.

Scottsdale is home to about 243,000 people, and the Census counts 26.4% of them as 65 or older. That's roughly one resident in four. About two in three homes are owner-occupied, and households are small, at about two people each.

It began as a much smaller place. Scottsdale incorporated on June 25, 1951, with about 2,000 residents, and Malcolm White was appointed its first mayor. It took the motto "The West's Most Western Town." Today the city runs two senior centers with a busy week of programs, and they're worth knowing about before you plan care at home.

Indian Bend Road splits the two centers. Granite Reef Senior Center is south of it, on North Granite Reef Road. Via Linda Senior Center is north, on East Via Linda. Both keep the same long hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 5 on Friday and until noon on Saturday. Both are closed Sunday.

Lunch is at 11:30, weekdays at Granite Reef and Tuesday through Thursday at Via Linda. Granite Reef asks you to reserve a day ahead, and Via Linda asks for two days. Granite Reef also offers chair exercises and blood pressure checks during the week.

Getting there can be the hard part. A caregiver can help your family member get dressed, drive them over, walk in with them and bring them home after lunch. Rides and company like that are what our companion care covers.

The centers host groups that matter to families caring for someone at home. At Granite Reef, an Alzheimer's Support Group meets the first Monday of the month at 1 p.m. A monthly Memory Lounge session meets on a Wednesday morning. The Tremble Clefs Parkinson's group meets Thursdays at 3. A Hospice of the Valley grief and loss group meets there on the first and third Tuesday.

At Via Linda, the Duet Caregiver's Support Group meets the first and third Thursday at 9:30 a.m. There are also Low Vision, Mended Hearts and Multiple Sclerosis groups. Every Tuesday at 10, Mindful Art welcomes people living with dementia, Alzheimer's or low vision, along with a family member or caregiver. The hour brings singing, storytelling and seasonal art.

When you're the one caring for someone at home, getting to a support group means finding someone to stay with them. A caregiver can stay at the house while you go, and that's what respite care is for. On Tuesdays, a caregiver can also take the person you care for to Mindful Art and sit beside them. For the rest of the week, dementia home care keeps their days calm and familiar. If Parkinson's or MS is part of the picture, our chronic condition support page explains the daily help we give.

Scottsdale's CAB Connection gives residents 65 and older taxi vouchers. Younger residents with a disability can qualify through the Valley Metro Mobility Center. Riders can use up to 20 one-way vouchers a month. The city covers 80% of a one-way trip, up to $10, and the rider pays the rest plus the tip. There's no income requirement.

Scottsdale's transit page also lists Valley Metro RideChoice and ADA paratransit for riders who qualify, plus the Scottsdale Trolley on weekdays.

A taxi can get someone to the doctor's office. It can't help them out of the car, carry their folder of papers or sit with them in the waiting room. A caregiver can drive instead, stay through the appointment and handle the pharmacy stop on the way home.

Two of Scottsdale's hospitals are HonorHealth campuses, one in the south of the city and one in the north. Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center on East Osborn Road is a trauma center and a stroke center. Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center, on Thompson Peak Parkway, lists cardiac care and orthopedics.

The days after discharge bring their own work. After heart trouble, a new knee or a fall, the first week home is slow. There's a walker to manage, a shower chair, careful meals and follow-up visits. A caregiver helps with the bathing, the cooking and the rides while the medical care stays with the doctors and therapists. The first days back home are covered on our post-hospital care page.

Scottsdale's senior social services include social workers by appointment, case management and home visit assessments on request. Home-delivered meals and help with benefits come through agencies based at the centers. In South Scottsdale, Tempe Community Action's Meals on Wheels covers ZIP codes 85250, 85251, 85253 and 85257.

The city's Emergency Repair Program helps with repairs that affect whether a home is livable, and it counts accessibility changes for older and disabled residents. The housing office also lists roof repair and larger rehab programs. Check with the city for the current limits.

A grab bar or a ramp makes the house safer. Someone still has to help with the shower and make sure supper happens. That's daily personal care, along with the cooking, laundry and tidying on our home help for seniors page.