Catholic Health Care in Houston
As the nation’s 4th-largest city, Houston is home to a vast Catholic community and lots of senior care services. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston covers about 8,800 square miles over a 10-county area in the southeast corner of Texas. The archdiocese serves more than a million church members and serves as a major resource for senior assistance in Houston and the surrounding communities.
An active and international Catholic community in Houston
Seniors looking for Catholic home care, assisted living, and hospice services have several choices in Houston. And true to the city’s multicultural milieu, parishioners looking for a Mass in a foreign language may be in luck, too. Among the 146 parishes in greater Houston are many that cater to the bustling city’s immigrant and ethnic communities. For seniors who are more comfortable with another language, these parishes offer an excellent way to stay spiritually and socially active.
More than 100 Houston-area parishes hold Masses in Spanish, and there are no fewer than 10 churches that offer services in Vietnamese. Other churches hold Mass in Polish, Chinese, and Korean. Houston also has a large population of Filipino Catholics with a vicar based in Freeport. There are Catholic churches that serve the Nigerian Catholic community, and more than a dozen parishes in the African-American Apostolate.
Catholic home care and hospice services in Houston
CHRISTUS HomeCare offers accredited and state-licensed senior care services through the CHRISTUS Visiting Nurse Association of Houston. CHRISTUS’ home care teams help seniors recover from illnesses, accidents, and surgeries through physical, speech, and occupational therapy, diabetes management, wound care, health education, and IV therapy under a doctor’s supervision. A home health aide may help with activities of daily living such as bathing and grooming. Medical social workers are also on hand to make sure seniors have the support they need.
The hospice and palliative care services CHRISTUS provides focus on pain management and improving patients’ quality of life, spiritual support, and help with daily activities. Hospice nurses, chaplains, social workers, and certified nurse assistants work together with each patient’s doctor to provide comfort and ease during a potentially difficult time.
Additional senior resources from the archdiocese of Houston
The local branch of Catholic Charities provides several free services for seniors who live alone, including home visits and phone calls, help with transportation and errands, social and educational activities, and assessments and referrals for counseling.
The senior ministry of the archdiocese also oversees operations at St. Dominic Village, which provides independent living, assisted living, short-term rehabilitation, and long-term skilled nursing care. St. Dominic also provides respite care for families and inexpensive housing options for Texas Medical Center patients and their families.
The community keeps active with holiday dances, open houses, and a full schedule of Mass, Rosary, Reconciliation, and interdenominational services. Wellness programs, a pet-friendly facility, and restaurant-style dining service also help strengthen community ties and resident engagement. Spanish-language and Deaf community Masses are held each Sunday in Warren Chapel.
Catholic Charities of Houston also sponsors a number of senior programs around town, including support groups for grandparents raising their grandchildren, talks on senior stress reduction, and special events for retirees trying to sort out their Medicare options.
Learn more about Houston Senior Living here:
Houston Low-Income Senior Housing
LGBT Senior Services in Houston
Pet-Friendly Senior Living in Houston
Southern Baptist Senior Living in Houston
Methodist Senior Living in Houston
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Find more assisted living in Houston at SeniorAdvisor.com.
Casey Kelly-Barton
Casey Kelly-Barton is an Austin-based freelance writer whose childhood was made awesome by her grandmothers, great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles, and their friends.