By Assistant Secretary for Elder Affairs Ruth Palombo

Options Counseling is a gateway for many Massachusetts elders and people living with disabilities to receive community supports and services.  Launched throughout the Commonwealth in 2010, Options Counseling provides residents with objective information about long-term services and supports that can make the difference between people remaining in their homes — or other preferred residential setting — or placement in a nursing facility.  In response to the Equal Choice statute (Chapter 211 of the state Acts of 2006), the Options Counseling program is a vital part of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s ‘Community First’ initiative to ensure that elders and people with disabilities who need long-term support services have the information and decision-making support they need to evaluate all of their options for a plan of action that honors consumer control and personal choice.

Options Counseling helps individuals fill the gap left by a health care system that tends to move people quickly toward nursing facility placement, leaving consumers little time to consider their choices and options.   The program ensures that elders and people with disabilities have the opportunity to consider long-term support options at a variety of points in the planning process, not just prior to nursing facility admission.  The timing and the number of counseling sessions provided depend on a consumer’s individual need for information and decision-making support.  Most importantly, consumers may receive services in a hospital, rehabilitation or nursing facility, or in their own homes.

Options Counseling promotes the “no wrong door” approach to accessing services.  Collectively administered by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), the service is accessible through the Commonwealth’s eleven Aging and Disability Resources Consortia  (ADRCs).  ADRCs are a local collaboration between Aging Service Access Points (ASAPs), Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and Independent Living Centers (ILCs) throughout the state.  This alphabet soup of cooperating agencies offers Commonwealth residents a seamless, coordinated system of comprehensive support service information. 

If you are looking at long term support services or caring for someone who may need long-term supports, we urge you to consider Options Counseling, a free service open to Massachusetts residents.   Until now, options have been somewhat limited.  Today, with added emphasis on consumer empowerment and community services, as well as advances in technology, people have an unprecedented number of choices available to them. 

Following is a list of agencies offering Options Counseling. Also visit: mass.gov/elders for a list of ASAPs and AAAs. 

Massachusetts Aging and Disability Resource Consortia (ADRC)

Massachusetts Aging and Disability Resource Consortia (ADRC)

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