Angelesa Was a Hospice Client’s Angel
It seemed fitting that a Home Instead® hospice client had shortened CAREGiver of the Month Angelesa Thomas’s first name to “Angel.” As her life was ebbing away, it appeared the client did not want to step into eternity until her Angel had walked through the door to start her shift.
Angelesa recalled: “On the day she passed, it felt as if she waited for me to arrive. She said, ‘Angel, is that you? I said, ‘Yes.’ She reached for my hand and said, ‘I am happy you are here.’ That made me feel good inside. We talked a little, and she went to sleep. She passed later that night. I will never forget her,” said Angelesa, who can draw on many special memories with the Home Instead client who impacted her life.
“I used to take this client to church on Mondays, and her friends at the church would take us to lunch afterward. We’d watch game shows together and tell stories. I like the good memories I help create by forming a professional trust and partnership with the clients and the families I encounter. As I play cards or do other activities, I listen to the stories they tell as they reminisce. It makes them happy.”
Angelesa always has championed the rights of society’s most vulnerable segment. In fact, she and her daughter bundled up and wore masks as they participated in the Walk for Alzheimer’s on a crisp October day on behalf of Home Instead of Martinsburg.
“When I was younger, I saw an elderly person being mistreated. I felt I could be a part of the beginning of the change in how the elderly are treated. I could do that by joining a company that thrives on providing care for those who cannot do for themselves,” said Angelesa, who joined Home Instead in 2016.
Keith Clay owns the award-winning Home Instead franchise that serves West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. Allyson Starling, one of the two office managers for the Martinsburg and Winchester Home Instead franchises, announced Angelesa’s CAREGiver of the Month honor. Nina Eastham is the Supervisor of the Martinsburg office.
In addition to her strong companionship skills that were on display with her hospice client, Angelesa provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Angelesa and other CAREGivers offer personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, dementia support, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility assistance. By expertly doing so, 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, Angelesa and other 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.
For Angelesa, touching lives impacts her soul, whether she’s providing physical help or emotional support in a companionship role. Angelesa is among more than 90,000 CAREGivers worldwide, and she has helped add to those numbers because of her strong belief in Home Instead’s purpose. It isn’t hard to see Angelesa lives the Home Instead principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (304) 263-4472 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
