By Stephen Smoot
West Virginia has almost 6,100 home health care employees and just more than 18,000 Medicare recipients who depend on these services every day. Rose Jones from Pendleton Senior and Family Services represents only one of those 6,100, but her dedication has made her a standout in both the community and also in her field.
Last month, Jones and 24 others earned a statewide award for outstanding service in home health care.
“I’ve lived in the area practically all my life,” shared Jones, who has a son, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She began, as many in home health care do, caring for her own family. “I started out with home care with my aunt, then my uncle,” Jones shared.
That beginning took place at the tail end of the presidency of the first President George Bush in 1992.
“I enjoy it,” says Jones, who added that “some days it gets pretty hectic. I don’t mind it. I’m close to home and I don’t have to go over the mountain.”
Home health care does much to preserve the independence of patients, which saves taxpayers money in health costs. According to the research Institute for Home Care, in West Virginia, more than 90 percent of Medicare patients receiving home health have three or more chronic health conditions.
When physical conditions are combined with an illness such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, home health care providers can face significant challenges. Patients can display docile and friendly behaviors in one moment, then in an instant turn combative. Often, they live alone and see friends and family infrequently, making the home health care provider the most important person in their lives in many instances.
In more than three decades of service, Jones has tended to 17 clients. She shared that the best part of her job, which is more of a vocation to her, is that “I’m helping somebody that can’t help themselves. It’s kind of fulfilling in a way.”
Jones then added that “I look at it as that I might be in that situation someday and I’d want somebody to help me.”
Although in her 70s, don’t look for Jones to retire soon. She stated that people ask “why are you still working?” Her answer is always “I don’t want to just sit home and do nothing,” relating that she has seen individuals develop health problems after retirement.
“I’ve got to be doing something,” Jones said.
Then she shared that she had to hit the road. It was time for Jones to go take care of her client and she did not want to be late.
When it comes to helping clients achieve their best quality of life, Pendleton Senior and Family Services and the state of West Virginia agree that Jones has certainly fulfilled her mission, doing her part to care for the elderly.
