The Hacienda at the River - Tucson, AZ

The Hacienda at the River is a center for excellence and innovation in senior living, an intentional community for mature individuals seeking assisted-living, memory care, skilled nursing, and rehabilitative and hospice care.

Surpassing traditional practices in healthcare and hospitality, The Hacienda’s pioneering integrative programs provide personalized support in a peaceful, restorative environment. Living on a 7.5-acre estate in the Catalina Foothills, Hacienda residents absorb the desert’s healing and calming beauty. The Hacienda’s Mission Revival architecture offers distinctive covered porches, brick pathways and stylish courtyards. Lush gardens, verdant orchards and a restored waterway enchant the eye and satisfy the spirit. The grounds provide residents with the desert’s tranquil healing beauty, while serving up visual variety and delight.

Hacienda residents will benefit from partnerships with leaders in wellness, including the University of Arizona Center on Aging (ACOA), The University of Arizona College of Nursing and its one-of-a-kind Integrative Nursing Faculty Fellowship (INFF) program and Dr. Steven Wool. These partnerships provide Hacienda residents with unprecedented access to cutting-edge university-based clinical care, research, and programming. This unique team-based model of care assures that the complex needs of each resident are discovered and met. This unique synergy of setting and programming create a new model for resilience in aging.

Integrative programs and therapies are seamlessly folded into each resident’s day. Residents may participate in on-site equine and horticultural therapy programs, based at our stables and gardens. Aquatic therapy, along with activities such as massage, guided meditation and yoga, is part of the treatment program.

Horses will be an important presence on the Hacienda campus. As those who have lived on farms and ranches know so well, living and working with animals adds a unique and rich dimension to life. Caring for another helps bring purpose and meaning, teaching a horse common sense that leans towards a self-reliance and problem solving. At an onsite stable, equine therapy programs under the direction of Tucson’s equine therapy pioneer Barbara Rector will help promote resident physical and emotional well-being through petting, grooming and riding horses. Equine therapy approaches have proven to be especially valuable tools in providing beneficial support in conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Housing on the Hacienda campus is warm and welcoming, with bright communal spaces that allow ample opportunity for socializing and relaxing, and gracious, comfortable suites that afford privacy as they overlook the natural landscape. In most assisted living settings, care is delivered by several individuals, each doing isolated tasks. In the Hacienda Home, universal caretakers called Nayas will live alongside residents, a guiding presence for all of the day’s activities. Deep bonds will be formed and quality of care will be extraordinary. Nayas will be the anchor of the day-to-day rhythms of the Hacienda Home. Working with the community’s medical and programming team, Nayas will be entrusted to use their special training, instincts and relationships with each elder to create a warm and nurturing environment. The word Naya, which centers on the concept of being engaged in the present moment, comes from the ancient language of Classical Sanskrit, and means person of wisdom, a conductor and a leader. Nayas will engage with residents and their families on every aspect of the resident’s day, providing vital communication, continuity and accountability. Because of this level of engagement, Nayas will help nurture the whole person’s well-being: physical, mental, and spiritual.

Through its appealing atmosphere, pioneering medical partnerships and on-site therapeutic programs, The Hacienda at the River is leading the way to a more holistic elder care experience, one that helps residents age with dignity and resilience. Come visit this restorative community and return to an era when we were strongly connected to the land and to each other.