Spotlight: Meet our Office Manager Ana

Our office manager Ana is the heartbeat of our Miami office. Ana just adopted a 2.5 lb puppy, a Morkie named Daisy

1. Great managers who work with the elderly and their families in home care should have empathy and compassion and develop caring relationships. Please tell me why empathy is important in hiring caregivers. How can you take care of someone without it? I treat our clients and families with love and compassion and our caregivers must do the same. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings of another, being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes so you can imagine what it is they are going through.

2. Compassionate caregivers listen to their elderly clients and provide safety and companionship. Please give me an example of how you are compassionate when speaking with clients/families. Understanding difficult times can be very emotional for our clients and their family members and it is the key to providing quality care. This helps me gently guide them through difficult times.

3. Excellent communication skills and patience are important qualities. How have these skills helped you with your clients? It is important to know how to communicate with our clients using language skills they will understand. Those include verbal and non-verbal skills.

4. How do you handle working with difficult clients? In my experience, difficult clients need extra attention and patience on my part. I hope all our clients understand we are working in their best interest. Listening to them is the first step, people need to be heard and understood.

5. Tell us about your favorite client or experience. I have so many, although I don't get out of the office as much as I would like to a highlight is visiting with our clients when I have the opportunity. Years ago I spent the day with one client, we went to the doctor's office and went shopping. She was so spunky and funny, it made me want to be like her when I get to her age. Other times just sitting and visiting, listening to their stories about kids and growing up. My most recent fulfilling time was with a client that recently passed away. He was nearly 103 years old, by this time bent over and barely walking but insisted on a good shower every day. Our caregiver needed help so there I went. I helped get him in the shower, we soaped him up and washed his hair; when he was done, dry and dressed he smiled big and told me that was the best shower he'd ever had. He wasn't able to get back in the shower after that, he passed away shortly after.

6. What is the hardest part of your job? The hardest part, seeing people suffer. I wish all of our clients were able to live out their lives happy and healthy.

7. Why do you like working at this specific agency? When I moved back to Miami in 2009 I was desperately looking for a job. I worked in hospitals and doctor’s offices before but never in private duty homecare. I soon came to realize that not everyone is as loving toward the elderly as they should be. I was originally hired on with ComForcare as a scheduler/ coordinator. That position came with a lot of talking to clients and caregivers. This made me realize people really just need loving words and actions. ComForcare gives me the opportunity to do that. I believe our elderly clients deserve love and compassion in their old age. ComForcare, but more specifically Jeff, our president, allows me to work with our clients to provide them a well rounded level of care. Care that is not just physical but emotional.