Her Mother’s Experience Gave Janice a Perspective on Senior Care
About five years before Janice joined a Home Instead® franchise as a CAREGiver, she learned the importance of trying to keep a senior loved one at home for as long as possible. There was a painful experience involving her late mother, one that she’ll never forget.
“I took care of my mother for seven years,” Janice explained. “Once during that time, she fell, broke her hip and had to go to a care community. She didn’t receive the proper care. For instance, her meals were brought in and placed on a table. Since she had Alzheimer’s, she didn’t know it was food and that she needed to eat. In another instance, she got a rash from not getting washed and changed.”
Janice saw clearly what she needed to do. “My husband and I brought her back home. I did everything I could for her. I took her to medical appointments, fed her, dressed her, washed her and handled her medications. We did puzzles, visited and did other companionship things,” said Janice, whose mother passed away in September 2014.
Her conclusion: “I feel seniors have better care if they stay home. I definitely think their quality of life is better at home.” Ironically, Janice found her way to owner Glenna Yaroch’s award-winning Home Instead franchise while she was looking for a temporary job.
“I work with preschool children in a school district. I was looking for something to do for the summer break when I saw a television commercial for Home Instead,” said Janice, referring to Glenna’s office that serves North Oakland County, including Waterford, Clarkston, West Bloomfield and 15 other communities.
Janice went through her Home Instead training and began working with clients in July 2019. The job continued as part-time work, and Janice’s excellent services were critically needed even more just six months after she started with Home Instead. “With COVID-19 and everything, many people don’t want to work. In terms of senior-care companies, everyone is shorthanded and overworked,” Janice pointed out.
To spotlight her excellence, the Home Instead franchise honored Janice as one of its CAREGivers of the Month. Home Instead General Manager Gail M. Wilk said: “Janice is one of four CAREGivers who we honored recently as CAREGivers of the Month. All of them are so dependable and always willing to help us in a pinch. These CAREGivers of the Month are loved by their clients, and I have never heard anyone say anything negative about them or the standard of work they provide. We are so pleased to have Janice on our team.”
Janice said, “I like being able to help people, and I meet some very nice people.”
Janice’s caregiving memories are many. “One of my clients liked going on walks, weather-permitting. There were places where the pavement had cracks and the surfaces were uneven. I would hold his arm to steady him, and once he smiled and asked, ‘Should we hold hands?’ ” said Janice, who politely declined and pointed out that she was only keeping him safe.
Recalling another story, Janice said: “A gentleman with whom I worked liked to joke around. I’d take him outside in his wheelchair. We would go around the building several times. One day, I told him I needed to sit down and take a break, that I wasn’t as young as one of his daughters. He asked me if I wanted to find a wheelchair and get pushed, too. Yes, I cherished the times we were together.”
Janice loves being a part of the CAREGiver team for the Michigan franchise, a member of a highly successful network founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Home Instead network is the world’s leading provider of in-home care services for older adults, with more than 1,200 independently owned and operated franchises that provide more than 100 million hours of care annually throughout the U.S. and 13 other countries.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (248) 886-7300 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
