Carole Malone’s excellent leadership and managerial skills have developed consistently throughout her career, which has included over 30 years in state government—19 within the state legislature and 16 within the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA). Most recently, Carole has been serving as the Assistant Secretary at EOEA, where she oversees the state Home Care Program, the Information and Referral Unit, Community Care Ombudsman Program, the Councils on Aging Program, the SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone on Medicare) program, the Aging and Disability Resource Consortia program (ADRCs) and the Options Counseling program. Early in her career, Carole worked as a home care aide and served as a Long Term Care Ombudsman in the Metrowest region of the state. She also worked as the Outreach Coordinator for the MassMedLine program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences where she worked closely with state and federal government officials in tracking and monitoring health care trends and streamlining access to affordable prescription drug coverage for Massachusetts residents. She has volunteered her time with a number of organizations including the Alzheimer’s Association, the End of Life Commission, the American Cancer Society, and the United Way. Most notably, Carole lead the design of the pilot for the Options Counseling (OC) program in Massachusetts, an initiative supported by the passage of the Equal Choice bill, enacted through MGL Chapter 211 of the Acts of 2006. Administered by EOEA and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), and operated statewide by eleven ADRCs, the OC program is a critical component of the Commonwealth’s Community First initiative ensuring that elders and people with disabilities in need of long term support services have the information and decision support that they need to evaluate their options and determine a plan of action that honors personal choice. Carole is a graduate of the Gerontology Program at the University of Massachusetts.
