Austin, Texas - Assisted Living Facilities & Senior Care

Assisted Living Tidbits

Austin has been one of our favorite cities to research and discuss over the years in terms of how much good information there is within the 'online city' of Austin about aging, assisted living and long-term care.

In the past, we have visited the Area Agency on Aging for the Capital Area website, and we have actually contacted them a few times with questions, but haven't had very good responses from them. Their site, years ago, was good, but didn't seem to be updated much. However, we came across it again this morning, and it seems like it has been updated. Actually, the "updated" date at the bottom is from a few days ago, so that's a good sign.

Agencies on Aging are great places to start if you have general questions about what your county, or city can provide you in terms of senior services. Sometimes, these sites and agencies seem 'tired' - not updated much, and not a whole lot to offer, but in many other cases, they are such wonderful portals for senior, aging and retirement information. The Capital area Agency, located in Austin, could be a model website for other Agencies to follow.

What we like about it is that it has a link to a page at the top of the main homepage that will display a map of all of the counties served by the agency, so there is no question. This is helpful for states or regions where there are numerous smaller counties, and possible confusion as to who is served or covered. Then, pretty quickly, you'll find a search bar, so you can quickly search for the information you need. We did a search for 'ombudsman' on the Area Agency on Aging of the Capital Area site, and it took us straight away to the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program information on their website. The search box is also useful in that it gives you a choice to search the agency site, or the web. We like that feature so if you want to do an external search, you don't have to backtrack to google or another search portal.

A quick aside on what an Ombudsman does, specific to the Austin Area's Agency: Essentially, an Ombudsman is an advocate, or voice to push for quality care in the 10 counties that the Agency serves.Ombudsman can provide information to residents and families about what their rights are; to help them discover additional resources or services that might be useful to them for their situation, and to try to resolve conflicts between assisted living facilities and residents, or to investigate complaints. Ombudsman staff are often times staffed by a handful of paid employees, supplemented by a group of trained volunteers. This is the case with the Area Agency on Aging of The Capital Area.

Another great feature that this agency offers is an actual directory of assisted living facilities, sorted alphabetically, by City, and by County. This is extremely helpful in cases where sites (like ours) aren't updated with new facilities, and it offers essentially a one-stop information source. In addition, an agency on aging's information has that extra level of trust, since there is not a commercial bias or interest in providing certain information over other information.

The directory on the Austin Area's agency site is comprehensive in the number of facilities listed, but we had hoped for more detail, such as photos, website addresses, and perhaps amenities and services. This is one area where the agency may be able to do better. We were happy, though, to see a google map of the assisted living facility locations in Austin, which populates with little 'home' icons where the facilities are located, and a list of the facilities in the sidebar. We thought this was extremely helpful.

Another excellent section that can be a model of useful information for other agency sites is the page on Caregiving. The AAACAP offers Care Coordination as part of the community care system that 'helps older adults remain at home by assisting with activities of daily living on a short-term basis.' Detailed information about this program is listed on the page. In addition, the AAACAP has excellent information about their Caregiver Support Program, which exists to help family members who are caring for older adults over 60 years old. Information about Supportive Services, including Eligibility and Priority are offered on the agency's site. Or, as of this writing, you may call 512-916-6067 for more information. We were also very glad to see tips and helpful suggestions that people can offer support and help to a family caregiver in their life.

Agency on Aging websites should be the best that they can be - and they should have a feeling of being updated frequently, and of course, with helpful, accurate, and correct information. As we alluded to earlier, there are so many sites out there with a commercial interest, often times resulting in biased information that does not have the user's best interest at heart. Agencies on aging, by nature of being an organization, and usually not for a profit, need to strive to be **the** resource for aging and senior issues in their area. We believe that the AAACAP has met this challenge. We would feel very comfortable following advice from this agency, and appreciate all of the information and obvious effort they have put into their online, and offline presence.

Great questions and comments that we have received about Austin assisted living and senior care in general:

Q: I have an unusual problem. My dad is 92 and is fairly independent. He's interested in a facility like a 2 bedroom condo with a nurse on hand should the need arise. I can do the errands for them but they can do day-to-day care for himself. The problem is he wants to move to Austin, Texas to be near me but would need to bring my brother with him, who has many health problems, can't work, and is only 57. Do you know any facilities that will take them? My brother has no insurance but has applied for Medicaid.

**This is indeed one of the most unusual questions and situations that we have seen come through our site. Taking two people with different needs and health issues can be challenging, and may take extra research. Asking a good, qualified referral service to do some research for you might be a helpful solution! Since referral services are usually paid per placement, they may be more motivated to help you to place two people. - ALD