Cloverdale is a small town of nearly 9,000 people in the northern reaches of California's Wine Country. Roughly 18 percent of the town's residents are seniors age 65 and over, many of them living with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease or another form of dementia. To serve local seniors whose condition requires full-time care and assistance with activities of daily living, the Cloverdale area has three memory care facilities in and around the city limits.
Residential long-term care facilities, a category that includes assisted living and skilled nursing, along with memory care, are all licensed by the California Department of Social Services Adult Care Licensing Program. The department inspects facilities around the state and takes comments and complaints from seniors' loved ones and members of the public regarding quality of care.