The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs and the Massachusetts Home Care Association have teamed up to create an on-line resource to assist seniors and their caregivers in locating both private and public providers of a wide variety of services.
At www.MassOptions.org, the site offers links to a large variety of resources, most of which are free of charge. These include caregiver supports, day care, housing, transportation, and general consulting. The site provides links to the appropriate Aging Services Access Point or Independent Living Center for each user’s location as well as links to non-profit agencies such as the Alzheimer’s Association and Jewish Family & Children’s Services. (One small criticism: When a clicked through and was connected to an agency’s website, I couldn’t click back to the MassOptions page.)
The beauty and the curse of the American system is that both non-profit and for-profit agencies and companies step in with solutions to challenges or to fill voids. This means that there are a plethora of uncoordinated services out there, but they can be hard to find and assess.
MassOptions.org is a great resources for any caregiver to get started to learn what supports may be available in the community. You can explore yourself or get hooked up with a MassOptions specialist by calling 800.243.4636.
