Helpline
Information & Assistance for Aging Vermonters
When individuals, family members, and caregivers call the Helpline they are often relieved that the phone is answered by someone who understands the problem and can offer real-time solutions.
The aging resource in Vermont
Staffed by Information and Assistance Coordinators who are familiar with state benefit programs and all programs pertaining to older Vermonters, we are available to answer your questions, and connect you with other Age Well services or external services.
0:00 my name is Sam Carleton I’m a care and
0:02 service coordination supervisor at
0:03 Age Well I supervise several different
0:05 pieces of the care and service
0:06 coordination team including the options
0:08 counselors community health workers and
0:10 the two programs I’ll be talking about
0:11 today which is the State Health
0:13 Insurance Program more commonly known by
0:15 the acronym SHIP as well as the Helpline
0:18 so for starters SHIP is a federally
0:21 funded program designed to help Medicare
0:23 beneficiaries
0:25 figure out the quagmire that is Medicare
0:27 so it helps people deal with enrollment
0:30 periods compare plans
0:32 and really everything under the sun
0:34 related to Medicare we have two
0:36 full-time Medicare staff that generally
0:38 people generally speaking help people
0:39 over the phone the other component of
0:41 ship is that we also offer training
0:45 and
0:46 webinars related to beneficiaries who
0:48 are new to Medicare as well as
0:50 navigating the medicare.gov website and
0:52 the plan finder as well as Medicare
0:54 advantage plans the other program that I
0:56 supervise is the helpline the helpline
0:59 is staffed by four information and
1:01 assistance coordinators commonly called
1:03 I and A at Age Well the I and A staff receive the
1:06 same training as all the care and
1:08 service coordination supervisors so
1:10 they’re familiar with all state benefit
1:11 programs all programs that pertain to
1:14 older Vermonters in the community
1:16 and the other agencies as well their
1:19 role
1:20 is to act as a triage for anything that
1:24 comes into Age Well they either refer
1:25 internally to our services or externally
1:28 to services provided in the community by
1:31 other agencies they
1:32 average between 1,500 and 2,000 calls a
1:35 month
1:36 so they are quite busy my second call
1:38 that I ever received on the Helpline was
1:40 from a French Canadian woman who only
1:43 was looking for which channels on
1:45 Comcast were in French I simply Googled
1:48 that and was able to tell her but I like
1:50 to tell that story in the volunteer
1:51 trainings because it goes to show
1:54 the kind of varied calls that helpline
1:57 staff receive the sort of common calls
1:59 would be related to people looking for
2:02 services of course often it’s for a
2:04 loved one or you know it’s an adult
2:06 child who’s a caregiver who’s sort of
2:07 burned down at the end of the rope and
2:09 not really knowing where to turn those
2:10 are the more common calls however I like
2:13 that one
2:14 story because it really just goes to
2:15 show how
2:16 it can be anything that the Helpline
2:18 staff receives
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FAQ’s
Have a question about the Helpline that’s not answered here? Reach out to us!
Our toll-free, confidential Helpline can be reached by calling 1-800-642-5119. Your call will be answered by one of our friendly, professional and certified staff.
The Helpline is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.
After hours, please leave a message on the Helpline and we will reach out to you during our business hours. If there is an emergency, please call 911.
Our knowledgeable staff can find the answers you need, when you need them. Topics of expertise include:
- Adult day programs
- Caregiver support
- Choices for care
- Home health and in-home services
- HomeMeds
- Housing and transportation
- Legal services
- Long-term care services
- Meals on Wheels & Community Meal Programs
- Medicaid
- Medicare and other health insurance
- Mental health services
- Nursing and residential facilities
- Prescription assistance programs
- Senior centers
- SSI and Social Security
- Support groups
- 3SquaresVT
The Helpline is staff by four Information and Assistance Coordinators, who are familiar with the state benefit programs and all programs that pertain to older Vermonters. Their role is to act as a triage for anything that comes into Age Well. They’ll answer your questions, or direct you to a different Age Well service or external service provided by other agencies who can better answer your question.
On average, the Helpline receives about 1500-2000 calls per month!
Need help?
Just call our toll-free, confidential Helpline. Your call will be answered by one of our friendly, professional and certified staff.