Every May, Older Americans Month and Older Texans Month offer a chance to celebrate the ways our older family members, friends, and neighbors make our communities better. It’s also a time to highlight aging trends and raise awareness of the challenges faced by many aging adults, particularly those with developmental disabilities (DD). The U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) leads the national observance and selected this year’s theme, “Powered by Connection,” to recognize the profound impact that meaningful relationships and social connections have on health and well-being.

We invite you to join us in our commitment to improve the lives of older adults with DD, in Texas and nationwide, through strengthening supports and services while addressing barriers to community inclusion and independent living. Here are some resources and information that can help.

Resources for Older Adults with DD

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is hosting a free summer webinar series to provide information on aging and living well:

• Age Well Live Well: Be Connected (Tuesday, June 25 | Noon to 1 PM CT) — Learn about how connection can help reduce loneliness and isolation and review the Age Well Live Well: Be Connected resources.
  Register for the Be Connected webinar.
• Age Well Live Well: Be Informed (Tuesday, July 23 | Noon to 1 PM CT) — Understand how available resources can help decision-making, enhance planning, and reduce stress. Register for the Be Informed webinar. 
        

The ACL-funded Nutrition and Aging Resource Center is hosting a free, four-part webinar series on navigating network partnerships among aging-related service providers. Emphasizing improved communication and collaboration, the series offers valuable insights on identifying resources and strategies to grow and maintain successful partnerships. After the events, webinar recordings will be available on the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center website.

• Navigating Successful Partnerships: Benefits and Strategies (Wednesday, June 12 | Noon CT) — This webinar will provide an overview of the advantages of partnerships and essential strategies required for successful collaborations. 
• Navigating Partnerships with Health Care Organizations (Wednesday, June 26 | Noon CT) — This webinar will review why health care organizations are interested in partnering with aging-related organizations; discuss positive impacts of these partnerships; and offer strategies for organizations to develop partnerships.
  
• Navigating Partnerships Between State Units on Aging and Universities (Wednesday, July 10 | Noon CT) — This webinar will cover a successful, decades-long partnership between a state-level aging network and a state university in Iowa, including the partnership’s history and benefits as well as tips for other organizations to create similar partnerships in their states.
• Navigating Partnerships Between State Government, Local Government, and Program Providers (Wednesday, July 24 | Noon CT) — This webinar will focus on an innovative approach to senior nutrition by an organization in Polk County, Iowa, and the partnerships that made the program successful.   
    

In addition to these webinars, HHSC coordinates several programs in Texas to support older adults as they age:

• Aging Texas Well is an initiative that helps Texans prepare for all aspects of aging at the individual, community, and state levels.
• Age Well Live Well is a statewide campaign that highlights the importance of aging well and promotes increased community preparedness.
• The Area Agencies on Aging help older adults, their family members, and caregivers find information and assistance to access community services, including benefits counseling, legal awareness, nutritional education, and more.
• Aging and Disability Resource Centers support people across Texas in accessing long-term services and supports by providing information and referral help as well as other assistance.

TCDD Initiatives

Our Council awards grant funding to support projects that improve the lives of older adults with DD in Texas as well as their family members and caregivers.

The Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) recently completed a project in the San Antonio area to holistically address the health and well-being of older adults with DD and caregivers. The project provided classes and other educational resources to meet wide-ranging nutrition, fitness, and wellness needs.

Visit the AACOG Support and Empowerment Program webpage to learn more about the project. On the webpage, you can access educational videos covering important topics related to aging with DD and providing care to someone aging with DD. You can also download a resource guide and a “health passport” that people with DD and their caregivers can use to compile important information they may want to share with a doctor, service professional, or other support providers.

In addition to this completed project, several ongoing TCDD projects are developing new and innovative ways to support older adults with DD, family members, caregivers, and others:

• Adults with DD Supporting Aging Family Members: AACOG is developing classes and support for people with DD who want to provide caregiving to their aging family members.
• Coping with Grief and Loss: Rice University is creating a toolkit to support the mental health of people with DD, including older adults and family members, who experience grief and loss.
• Older Adults with DD and Caregivers: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is addressing barriers to health care for older adults by developing a statewide network of virtual health centers and Medicaid health homes that will be supported by telehealth.

Official Proclamations

Read the proclamation from President Joe Biden on Older Americans Month.

Read the proclamation from Gov. Greg Abbott (PDF) on Older Texans Mont