Community Assessment Tool — FAQs

What is the goal of the Aging Texas Well (ATW) initiative?
The goal of ATW is to help Texas communities and individuals prepare for an aging Texas. To create better places to live, provide all residents the opportunity to achieve their full potential and contribute to the betterment of their communities.

The continuous process of self-assessment and improvement can help a community achieve the following goals:

To create an inventory of services and opportunities that encourage independence and quality of life for older adults in your community. This inventory can be used to market the community to current residents as well as potential newcomers. See Tyler's Retirement City for more ways to market the community.
To coordinate with a variety of partners (government, business, nonprofit and education) in order to promote the development of senior friendly community amenities.

How can a community benefit from the initiative?
The Aging Texas Well initiative works to provide seniors an opportunity to remain independent in their own communities while ensuring caregivers for people of all ages receive the support they need. Other key benefits include increased safety; improved community planning; and better physical and mental health of residents.

Creating an Aging Texas Well community can accomplish the following goals:

Assists communities in preparing for the future challenges of a rapidly growing and aging population.
Strengthens existing mechanisms for increasing public awareness about available services.
Supports aging population and their caregivers.
Benefits residents of all ages.

Communities in the 21st century can often be places where people become anonymous, and older adults can often find themselves alone in the struggle to meet the challenges of aging. Caregivers can also have difficulty finding assistance in providing care for an elder loved one. Aging Texas Well promotes intergenerational communities where people of all ages enjoy the benefits of support systems that are helpful to an older population.

A senior-friendly community is a better place to live for people of all ages. The older generation shares its talents and expertise with younger generations and connects younger generations to their heritage. Younger generations provide a safety net for the older generation-whether they are personally involved in a caregiving role or not. The entire community benefits from the process of planning for an elder friendly community — whether they travel by wheelchair, bicycle or stroller.

Because many different agencies, groups and organizations provide services to seniors, many caregivers and older adults are uncertain about where to seek answers to questions about available assistance. By participating in the process of becoming Aging Texas Well, collaborations are developed that strengthen existing partnerships among local service provider agencies as well as engage other non-traditional partners. For example, a community may involve faith-based organizations, government services such as law enforcement and public works, and local businesses such as pharmacies and groceries.

When agencies that have traditionally focused on addressing the needs of older adults work together with new community partners, communities can achieve the common goal of linking older adults and their caregivers with the information and assistance they need. This collaboration provides an opportunity for a community to inventory the available opportunities and assistance provided by the community partners, who, in turn, become partners in communicating the information to the public.

Community Assessment Tool — FAQs

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