Hospice Austin Joins the Memory Care Excellence Network

Hospice Austin and Austin Palliative Care have officially been awarded the Memory Care Seal of Excellence by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP), joining the Memory Care Excellence Network (MCEN). The designation recognizes organizations nationwide that demonstrate an exceptional excellence in dementia care by combining evidence-based clinical practice with compassionate, person-centered support. 

Serving Central Texas since 1979, Hospice Austin is a non-profit hospice and palliative care organization that supports individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and the families who care for them. 

Care That Meets People Where They Are 

Hospice Austin meets those living with dementia and their families wherever they are, providing hospice care in homes, assisted living communities, and skilled nursing facilities throughout Central Texas and the surrounding communities. 

The organization also provides 24-hour inpatient care at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House for patients who need a higher level of medical support. 

For a person navigating dementia, both settings call for a particular kind of expertise that recognizes confusion, distress, or fear as a form of communication to understand.

Hospice Austin’s vision is a community in which people with serious illness live with comfort, dignity, and peace. That vision depends on staff who are taught to recognize what a person can no longer put into words. 

This MCEN recognition means Hospice Austin’s team has the evidence-based, dementia-informed skills to make comfort, dignity, and peace possible, whether at a person’s bedside at home or in Christopher House. 

Empathy Put Into Practice 

Jennifer Riddick, RN at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, didn’t have to wait long to put her new skills to work. 

“I was able to immediately use what I learned in the training to help a patient. When I came on shift, there were three people in the room, and everyone was feeling frustrated. 

The training helped me better understand what the patient with dementia might be experiencing, and that empathy made all the difference. 

By spending a little extra time with him and using some of the techniques I learned, I was able to improve the situation.” — Jennifer Riddick, RN, Hospice Austin’s Christopher House

Jennifer’s experience shows what dementia-informed care is meant to do: turn a hard moment into a manageable one.

Extending Dementia Education Beyond Clinical Care

Dementia care extends beyond the person at its center to the family members and care partners learning to navigate the disease alongside them. At Hospice Austin, that education reaches non-clinical staff too.

“I highly recommend the Dementia Practitioner Training for anyone who would like to expand their knowledge of Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

I am not part of the clinical staff at Hospice Austin, but I do provide mental health support to family members impacted by this illness as they care for their loved one. This course taught me the different ways dementia can manifest, what language to use (such as ‘care partner’ rather than caregiver), and other education surrounding this illness. 

I recently used what I learned during a care partner support group to probe certain topics that may be difficult to speak on.” — Esmeralda Huerta, Bereavement and Volunteer Services Manager, Hospice Austin

The language used with families matters as much as the information itself. It shapes how supported they feel, long after the conversation ends. Extending this education beyond clinical staff is what makes this possible. Families feel supported no matter who they’re talking to. 

Setting the Standard in Central Texas 

Dementia and Alzheimer’s care is constantly evolving, and organizations like Hospice Austin are helping lead that progress on the ground, shift by shift, one meaningful interaction at a time. 

With this MCEN recognition, Hospice Austin joins a national network of providers raising the bar for dementia and Alzheimer’s care.

For the families Hospice Austin serves, this recognition offers reassurance. Their friends or family members are supported by a team that knows how to see the person behind the diagnosis and respond with the patience that moment requires.

Learn more about Hospice Austin at hospiceaustin.org.