Post Office Box 9005
Austin, TX 78766-9005
Telephone: (512) 338-1223
Email: sidrich@austin.rr.com

Independent Living

Many of today's seniors who simply do not wish to continue the responsibility of maintaining a yard, a household, and all that goes with it, choose a retirement community in their area. This is independent living because no assistance or protective services are provided. Most communities offer spacious apartments in varying sizes and provide a specific number of meals per day, maid service, scheduled transportation, and social and recreational opportunities. The residents are on their own and may come and go as they please, as if they were still living in their own homes. Most retirement communities have a Resident Council who provide substantial input into the services and programs conducted for their benefit.

Aside from meeting building codes, fire codes, and health requirements for food service operations, retirement communities are not licensed or inspected and have no licensed medical practitioners on staff. If they do, it is a voluntary program at the option of management.

Many retirement communities today have chosen to dedicate certain wings of buildings or portions of the complex to personal care or nursing care. In these cases, those particular separate operations would be regulated by the Department of Aging and Disability Services and by the licensure and operational rules promulgated by the Department.

In some cases, residents of retirement communities who have the temporary need for nursing services may contract for these directly with a licensed home health agency. In these cases, a licensed practitioner would come to the individual apartment of the resident to perform these services. This would be the very same situation as an individual living in their own private residence in the community. The contractual agreement for these services is made between the resident and the outside practitioner, and does not involve the retirement community.