Lillian Stittgen was successful in retail for nearly three years and rose through the ranks at her department store. She was skilled in customer service, outside-inside sales, inventory loss prevention and pricing, among other things. Yet Lillian was unfulfilled.
“Ever since I was little, I wanted to be in health care to help others in need. I saw there was a need for home-care workers and figured it was not a job for everyone. But I thought maybe I could do it because I care about people,” said Lillian, who was honored as CAREGiver of the Month about a year after joining Home Instead® of Martinsburg, where Office Supervisor Nina Eastham watched as Lillian hit the ground running as a CAREGiver and never looked back.
Before Lillian found Home Instead on Indeed.com, she first got her taste of senior care at a care community in Martinsburg. “My previous experience was at a nursing home with multiple residents,” Lillian explained. “I helped facility residents with showers, get in and out of bed, walking, meal preparation, housekeeping, encouragement with activities and routines – pretty much everything we do as CAREGiver for Home Instead clients.”
To build on their knowledge and experience, Lillian 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.
Focusing on Home Instead’s training, processes and procedures of successful caregiving helped Lillian achieve the CAREGiver of the Month award. Lillian pointed out: “I’m blessed to have family members in good health, therefore I’ve never had the experience of helping my own elderly family members. I think my love of what I do just took off full speed with Home Instead and I am grateful I get a chance for care for my clients and help them in any way I can.”
Lillian loves being a part of the CAREGiver team for owner Keith Clay’s award-winning 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 care throughout the United States and 13 other countries.
“I’ve been given the opportunity to be a part of so many lives and experience so many interactions with people I would have never met without this job,” Lillian said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (304) 263-4472 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
