My first experience working with older adults was when I was in high school. I worked as a waitress and housekeeper in a retirement community on nights and weekends and over the summer. I ended up really liking it. I even thought about being a nurse, but I had no real career direction.
I earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and was working in sales and catering for a hotel, but I wasn’t passionate about it and didn’t know what I wanted to do next. My roommate at the time noticed I was always helping older people everywhere I went, always ready to help reach an item on the shelf at the grocery store or lend a helping hand. My roommate asked me, “why I don’t you get a job helping older people?” and I realized that was what I wanted to do.
I started my career in long-term care as the community relations director of an assisted living community, I went on to work as a liaison for a home health agency, and now I am the social services director of a skilled nursing facility.
The whole premise of the job is helping the residents and ensuring they have the care they need. We are the residents’ advocates. No one is moving into a facility on their best day. At a tough stage of life, we are able to help make things a little easier, a little smoother, and help it make a little more sense. Every day I can see the difference I make in people’s lives. You get instant gratification from seeing the difference you’re making. It’s so cool.
Working in senior care, you face challenges where families aren’t as involved as you would hope they would be, but we get to show up every day for the residents. I remember a time when I was having a hard day. We had a resident’s phone plugged in, charging by the time clock. Her phone screen lit up and I saw the background picture on her phone was of the two of us at an event we had hosted in the community. Just knowing that experience meant so much to her that she would make it the background on her phone that she sees every time she turns it on—this is why I do it. Knowing it makes such a difference.
I see in people a fear of the elderly. Our culture is anti-aging, but aging is inevitable and it’s also a blessing. There can be grief in growing older in a society that doesn’t value aging. We get to change that narrative. We help our residents have purpose in their sunset years and find meaning in their lives. We like to say, “if you can’t walk, you can roll!”
There really is something for everybody in long-term care. There are opportunities for every interest and every talent. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
We always have a big Halloween event with all the buildings on our campus. We have hundreds of kids come through, the residents hand out candy and we do a costume contents. We’re always thinking, “what are we going to do to make it fun?” We get the residents involved with group costumes like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and the Wizard of Oz. We had a resident who had been in the Navy, we made his wheelchair into a boat, and we sailed all over the facility. He unexpectedly passed not too long after that, but we got have this incredible experience together. I think about how lucky we are that we get to know residents and build relationships where it’s hard to say goodbye. It’s such an important area to work in.
There really is something for everybody in long-term care. There are opportunities for every interest and every talent. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Talk to the leadership and find out what kind of opportunities are available to you and how they can support you. I never thought I would go back to school, but the director of my facility has encouraged me and provided financial support that made it possible to start a Master of Social Work program with emphasis in gerontology.
Social services is organized chaos. I make a plan every morning and by noon it’s out the window, but it’s a ton of fun. I get to be creative on a daily basis. I’m always learning, trying new things, and working out solutions. There’s a lot of opportunity to improve processes and grow. Social services is great for someone who wants to build relationships and solve problems. You’re never doing the same thing from day to day.
I’m just so passionate about what I do, and I think people can tell that. I believe when you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing, people around you will “wake up.” My friends all know about my job, my family know about it. People come to me for advice so I can be this resource for this super unknown stage of life. I get to be a fountain of knowledge.
This work has made me excited to grow old. I want to live a long life and I know that I can still do things that are meaningful. I want to give a better path forward to my family, friends, and for myself as we age.
