The Home Instead® client could not have been more thrilled when she learned Caregiver of the Month Angel Carroll was pregnant. “That has been my most memorable period of time with a client in my two-plus years with Home Instead of Martinsburg, and I’ve been with this sweet lady since I started my Caregiver job. I have spent almost every holiday with her,” Angel said.
“When she realized I was pregnant, all she wanted to do was rub my belly. She told me stories all day about her children when they were babies. Every shift after that she would want to feel my belly and talk about names and how she picked her children’s names out,” Angel said.
Angel got an early start in senior care, and she quickly learned she had a heart for it. “I’ve been a family caregiver since I was 13 years old,” Angel said.
“Professionally, I worked as a private-duty caregiver for two years before my client passed away. Then I started at a senior center and worked more than a year before applying at Home Instead,” Angel explained. “Someone for whom I had worked told me they were going to start using Home Instead. So, I looked into it, and Home Instead was hiring.”
When Angel joined owner Keith Clay’s Home Instead office, she came aboard an award-winning franchise that that serves West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, including Berkeley Springs, Harpers Ferry, Capon Bridge, Capon Spring, Charles Town, Charleston, Great Cacapon and Delray. The franchise’s general manager, Allyson Starling, announced Angel’s Caregiver of the Month honor.
Among the considerations for achieving Caregiver of the Month status, an employee has shown she has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Empathy and compassion are taken into account, as well as skill and wisdom for dealing with challenging situations. Angel embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
Angel provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. She offers personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Angel and her fellow Caregivers not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
To build on their knowledge and experience, Angel and other Martinsburg Caregivers are offered the opportunity to increase their dementia-care skills by taking part in the Home Instead network’s one-of-a-kind training protocol. Home Instead’s Person-Centered Care Training for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias is recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association® for incorporating the evidence-based dementia-care practice recommendations in these topic areas: Alzheimer’s and dementia, person-centered care, assessment and care planning, activities of daily living, and behaviors and communication.
“I love my job as a Caregiver. I’m good at taking care of people and helping when I can. Home Instead works great with my schedule. I would recommend them to anyone who likes to do this kind of work,” Angel said.
All Home Instead Caregivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
