Long-Term Care Counselor: An Electronic Decision-Support Tool

With the American population aging at a steady pace, the need to help individuals, families, and aging/health care professionals in making often-difficult long-term care decisions is increasing. Finding accurate, impartial information is also critically important, especially information that is personalized to the individual rather than for the general public. The Long-Term Care Counselor (LTCC) is a free and confidential, web-based, decision-support tool developed by The National Council on the Aging (NCOA) to meet this particular need. It is part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) long-term care information initiative and is found via the official Medicare website at http://www.medicare.gov/longtermcare/static/ltccounselor.asp. The LTCC helps individuals, caregivers, and professionals to find information relevant to particular circumstances based on the age, health, level of activity, finances, or personal preferences of the person.