Most Texas families we talk to have done a fair amount of homework before they ever pick up the phone. They’ve driven past a place or two, read the reviews, maybe toured a big community in the city. What they often haven’t had is a way to tell the options apart once every website starts to sound the same.
That’s what this is for. Senior living in Texas covers a lot of ground, from apartment buildings for active retirees to small homes where help is part of every day. Here’s how to sort through it, and where to find our homes when you’re ready to look in person.
One term, several very different places
“Senior living” is a catch-all. It gets used for any housing built with older adults in mind, and the help that comes with it varies a lot.
At one end sits independent living: apartments or cottages for folks who still handle their own days and mostly want less yard to mow. In the middle is assisted living, where meals, personal care, medication support, and caregivers around the clock are part of the arrangement. Memory care is designed for people living with dementia. And residential care homes provide assisted living in an actual house, with a handful of residents instead of a crowd.
Nursing homes are their own category. They’re licensed medical settings for people who need a nurse’s care on an ongoing basis, and that’s a question for your parent’s doctor. We laid out the differences in our side-by-side look at in-home help, assisted living, and nursing homes.
Five things worth looking at
Once you’ve narrowed it to a few places, these are the details that separate them.
- The size of the household. Ask how many people live there. Fifteen neighbors and a hundred and fifty residents make for two very different days.
- The kitchen. Find out where meals are cooked and where they’re eaten. If you can smell supper from the living room, that tells you something.
- A regular weekday. Skip the polished Sunday tour if you can and come by on a Tuesday morning. You’ll see how the house actually runs.
- What’s included. Ask what help comes with the monthly rate and how the rate is set. At BeeHive Homes, the rate comes out of a care-needs evaluation, and the staff at each house will go over it with you.
- The other residents. This one gets overlooked. Your dad’s caregivers can help him all day, and you can drive in every Sunday, but neither of you can be a man his own age who remembers the same harvests and the same Friday night games. Only another resident can.
Where BeeHive Homes fit
Our homes are residential houses. You’ll find a living room, a kitchen with a big shared table, a private bedroom and bathroom for every resident, and somewhere outside to sit. Only a handful of people share each house, and caregivers are there day and night.
A lot of Texans would rather handle things on their own, and plenty of our residents felt the same way before they moved in. Letting someone else take the cooking, the laundry, and the medication schedule doesn’t mean giving up. More often it means keeping energy for the parts of the day that still matter most: a good conversation, a ball game on the radio, a phone call with a grandchild.
If your family isn’t ready to decide, there’s respite: a stay of a few days or a few weeks so your parent can get a feel for the place first. More on respite here.
Our Texas homes, by region
Each Texas home now has a page of its own about senior living there: photos, the street address, the nearby towns its families come from, and a direct line. Pick the one that’s easiest to get to.
The Panhandle and South Plains
- Senior living in Amarillo: a quiet neighborhood home with a big family room, serving families from Amarillo, Canyon, and Hereford.
- Senior living in Floydada: Floyd County farm country, with a salon and a patio for watching the clouds.
- Senior living and memory care in Plainview: the Plainview house, built around memory care.
- Senior living in Lamesa: the Dawson County seat, about 60 miles south of Lubbock, with a vaulted living room.
West Texas and the Big Country
- Senior living in Andrews: gardening boxes and a sunny patio, close to families in Midland, Odessa, Seminole, and Kermit.
- Senior living in Abilene: our Abilene home, with private rooms and a shared table.
North Central Texas
- Senior living in Granbury: a patio made for lemonade, near families in Glen Rose, Cresson, and Weatherford.
When you’re ready
Look at two or three of those pages, then call the home that’s closest to whoever will visit most. Ask if you can stop in some weekday morning and sit at the table for a few minutes. You don’t need to have made up your mind to walk through the door.
Senior living can be a house where your mother’s name gets used at breakfast and your dad’s ball game is already on when he sits down. Call (806) 452-5883 or pull up the senior living page for the closest home, and we’ll find a time that works.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is senior living?
Senior living refers to housing designed for older adults. It runs from independent living apartments, where residents manage most things themselves, to assisted living and memory care, and to small care homes where daily support is simply part of the household.
What’s the difference between senior living and assisted living?
Assisted living is one kind of senior living, the kind that adds hands-on help: bathing, getting dressed, meals, and keeping medications on schedule, with staff there around the clock. Independent living, another kind, usually leaves that help out.
How do I choose a senior living community in Texas?
Start with location, since the family members who visit most should be able to get there easily. Then compare the number of residents, where meals are prepared, what help is included, and what a regular weekday looks like. Visiting on an ordinary morning is the most reliable way to see the difference.
What does senior living cost at a BeeHive home?
It depends on the setting and on how much help someone needs. For our Texas homes, the monthly rate is based on a care-needs evaluation, and the house you’re considering can tell you what’s covered.
Is there a way to try a BeeHive home first?
There is. A respite stay gives your parent a few days or weeks in the house, living the same routine as everyone else, before your family commits to anything. Since it needs an open room, call early if you can.
Where are BeeHive Homes located in Texas?
Our Texas homes are in Amarillo, Floydada, Plainview, Lamesa, Andrews, Abilene, and Granbury. Each has its own senior living page, linked above, and you can call (806) 452-5883 for help finding the closest one.