AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas House Committee on Human Services is scheduled to hear about how the state can improve care for the elderly and keep them in their communities.

House Speaker Joe Straus has ordered the committee to explore strategies for long-term care that keep people out of nursing homes. What the committee learns this year will likely be used to make new laws when the Legislature meets again in 2013.

The committee will hear testimony on Tuesday about what other states are doing and whether the state can leverage volunteer-supported efforts to keep senior citizens active and involved in their communities.

Advocates say too often nursing homes are used like warehouses for the elderly and they don’t receive the care they need to remain happy and healthy.

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