Successfully Aging and Living in San Antonio is transforming our community by advancing practices and policies that improve the quality of life of older adults in Bexar County, especially those most in need.
Successful Aging and Living in San Antonio (SALSA) was created by the San Antonio Area Foundation to increase leadership, collaboration and funding to ensure older adults have access to necessary services, information and support systems.
Starting with community-based research, strategic planning and collaboration, SALSA’s mission is to transform our community by advancing practices and policies that improve the quality of life of vulnerable older adults in Bexar County.
SALSA has aligned their work to that of the World Health Organization’s Eight Domains of Livability. These domains have also been adopted by AARP and the City of San Antonio, creating a collaborative focus on aging successfully.
SALSA is a collective impact initiative. “Collective impact” describes an intentional way of working together and sharing information for the purpose of solving a complex problem. Proponents of collective impact believe that the approach is more likely to solve complex problems than if a single nonprofit were to approach the same problem(s) on its own.
SALSA participants are a combination of individuals and organizations, with representatives from the business community, local government and the social sector. SALSA partners are working on issues of housing, transportation, social connectedness, reframing aging and caregiver support.
A community where older adults are respected, thrive and enjoy connected lives.
To transform our community by advancing practices and policies that improve the quality of life of older adults in Bexar County, especially those most in need.
Learn how this initiative came together and is thriving and advocating for older adults.
Working Groups are the heartbeat of the SALSA collective impact: where action occurs and goals are brought to life. SALSA Partners are working on issues of housing, transportation, social connectedness, reframing aging and caregiver support.
The Transportation Workgroup believes that older adults in all parts of the county should have equitable access to a variety of affordable, accessible, spontaneous and appropriate transportation options that allow them to go where they want, when they want.
Current Project: One Call One Click Coordinated Transportation System.
TRANSPORTATION FOR OLDER ADULTS: SUMMARY OF ISSUES, ACTORS, AND SOLUTIONS FALL 2020
The Workgroup commissioned a white paper to highlight the challenges facing the existing transportation system for older adults and people with disabilities, and to propose a solution to improve service coordination, accessibility, and data collection.
This SALSA Workgroup works towards a vision where neighborhoods and housing across Bexar County are safe, affordable and accessible for older adults, at all income and abilities levels resulting in successfully aging in place.
Current Projects: Aging-In-Place Proactive Planning educational community presentation, ongoing work to build awareness of Accessory Dwelling Units (casitas) and House Sharing options.
Summary of Barriers and Solutions to Senior Housing
The Housing Workgroup released its Barriers and Solutions report at a community meeting in September of 2019. This report summarizes the barriers that impact housing for older adults in San Antonio and proposed solutions, as identified in prior studies and community planning initiatives. The contents summarize the work of many organizations and individuals over many years. The report is divided into two sections. The first section highlights the barriers specific to housing for older adults. The second section of this report highlights barriers to housing more generally, including but not limited to housing for older adults.
The Caregiver and Workgroup wants to ensure older adults and their caregivers are aware of and have access to available resources in the community.
Family Caregiver Toolkit
With input from family caregivers the Caregiver and Socialization Workgroup created a dynamic toolkit for caregivers. This toolkit offers resources to those spouses, family, and significant others who provide care for their loved ones. The success of most care plans—from hospital discharge to everyday care in the home—often rests on the shoulders of the family caregiver. We hope this toolkit assists new or experienced home-based caregivers to understand their role and provides information about essential support for the challenge’s caregivers may face.
ENGLISH TOOLKIT SPANISH TOOLKIT
Caregivers in the Workplace
SALSA’s Caregiving Support Workgroup decided to address how organizations could adapt to better support caregiving employees. We hope that organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, will use the resulting pledge & guide to identify how their organizations already support employed caregivers, and also as a way to identify action steps to support employees and colleagues who are caregivers.
The Social Connectedness Workgroup wants to ensure that our older adults have access to a wide range of social, education, volunteer, and training opportunities.
The San Antonio Area Foundation’s SALSA initiative serves as an intermediary sponsor for AmeriCorps VISTA members who are identifying barriers preventing residents from aging and living well, educating the community about resources and helping to enhance SALSA projects and partner programs that fill in the gaps influenced by poverty.
The Reframing Aging Initiative is a long-term social endeavor designed to improve the public’s understanding of what aging means and the many ways that older people contribute to society. Ultimately, this greater understanding will counter ageism and guide our community’s approach to ensuring supportive policies and programs for us all as we move through the life course. Reframing Aging presentations available from trained SALSA facilitators for community and industry professionals.
This new approach, developed by the renowned FrameWorks Institute and based on social science research techniques, can help you change the conversation, be more persuasive, and influence public understanding to create a more just, inclusive, and age-friendly society.
Learn More About the Reframing Aging Initiative
For more information about our SALSA initiatives, please contact Jane Paccione.
