Award
Winners
2003
BUSINESS AWARD
The ASA Business of the Year Awards, one for large companies and one for medium or small companies, recognize exemplary company programs that meet the needs of older people and their families, expand public awareness of the private sector’s increasing involvement with older people, and create performance models for other companies to emulate.
LARGE
COMPANY
Ceridian LifeWorks Services
Boston, MA
Diane Piktialis
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Ceridian LifeWorks Services has provided workplace effectiveness services and training for over 25 years. In creating an eldercare program for IBM in 1988, Ceridian became the first company to develop and provide such a program on a national level. In 1992, the eldercare service was integrated into the LifeWorks service, which addresses the full spectrum of family and personal issues that affect productivity in the workplace. This service is now offered at more than 200 companies, including many of the Fortune 100. Its products are of high quality, are comprehensive and reach large audiences.
Ceridian was also the first company to offer what it calls “the next generation of eldercare support,” in-person care-management services for employed caregivers. Since 2000, credentialed professionals have provided person-to-person assistance in various ways: assessing needs and developing plans of action; conducting customized evaluations of eldercare facilities; facilitating caregiver support groups; and hosting eldercare fairs at worksites to increase understanding of aging-related issues. The Just-in-Case backup and emergency eldercare service helps caregiving employees with business travel and backup care.
In recent years, mature workers facing midlife transitions and retirement have become a focus for LifeWorks services. This component deals with retirement planning, financial planning, health issues and career options. LifeWorks has gone online, providing a selection of seminars for employees on topics regarding midlife and retirement, performance-learning training programs, and seminars for both employees and management addressing many aging-related needs.
These innovative programs have received high satisfaction marks from users, who note reduced stress, fewer missed workdays, and high productivity and job loyalty. These are major factors for companies who deal with eldercare issues among their employees.
Companies such as AT&T and Lifeline Systems, which were honored in past years by ASA for their aging-related services, have worked with Ceridian. The company supports community-based eldercare service providers, and has established affiliate relationships with local government and nonprofit organizations to enhance its services. In addition to making immediate referrals, LifeWorks educates families about many issues related to caregiving, such as maintaining elders’ independence, taking preventive measures and learning how to evaluate providers.
According to Ceridian, over 100,000 employees and their families annually received aging and eldercare services, and 4,000 to 5,000 employees attend the worksite seminars. The Internet offers opportunities to access the program’s benefits every day at any time; a website has also been designed for people with disabilities.
For the sheer breadth of its services, Ceridian Lifeworks Services is honored by ASA for innovation and
effectiveness.
SMALL BUSINESS
Home Instead Senior Care
Omaha, NE
Paul Hogan
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In 2001, Home Instead Senior Care collaborated with the George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers, Inc., of San Diego, California, to produce the Alzheimer’s CAREGiver Training Program, the first international training program of its kind for
nonmedical caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease. The program relies on the Glenner Centers’ 20 years of experience in Alzheimer’s care. With the Glenner School of Dementia Care, Home Instead created a book that serves as the core curriculum, featuring scientific data and practical advice on the disease, and how to work with a person with Alzheimer’s. It is an outstanding training
manual.
The program is administered through a “train-the-trainer” approach. The local administrator of each franchise office completes the program and then trains the CAREGivers. Trainees are tested three times during the course. The course itself is a complement to the company’s two other training programs, dealing with hands-on skills in caring for an elder, communication, daily activities and emergencies. It is recommended that CAREGivers complete both programs before enrolling in the Alzheimer’s program.
Home Instead Senior Care is the nation’s leading provider of companionship and nonmedical homecare services for elders. These services include companionship, meal preparation, light housework, errands and shopping. This option can be an affordable solution for many elders who prefer to remain in the comfort and familiar surroundings of their home instead of being institutionalized. The quality of life for many clients is often equated with their opportunities to stay at home, in familiar surroundings, as long as possible.
Home Instead Senior Care was launched in 1994 from a single pilot operation in Omaha, Nebraska. In 2003, a network of more than 400 franchises operates in 43 states, Japan and Canada. The company has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, and was recently recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 100 franchise companies in the world.
The Alzheimer’s CAREGiver Training Program is effective on many levels: In providing comprehensive training, it helps people with Alzheimer’s to be independent longer and to try to achieve a level of comfort at any stage of the disease. It supports families by supplying respite care and education. It allows the CAREGiver to achieve a high level of skill in working effectively with clients.
In addition to these goals, the program was developed to help build more national awareness for Alzheimer’s disease itself, and the needs of the individuals and families affected by it.
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