‘It’s Not a Job but a Way of Life’: Home Instead’s Elmer Johnson Wins Caregiver of the Year

by Kerri Cooke

Elmer Johnson never expected to win the National Caregiver of the Year Award at the national Home Instead Convention in Nebraska last year. It still brings tears to her eyes after a bittersweet 2023.

Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer but says her treatments never kept her from her job. She is now cancer-free and says winning the award at the end of last year helped end 2023 on a positive note.

Johnson says her work is “not a job but a way of life.” She explains how she “loves talking to older people. As the world revolves, it changes. I can go back to simpler times.” When Johnson was 12 years old her grandparents moved in with her and her parents. She was tasked with looking after her grandparents before and after school, cooking meals and giving them their medications.

A native of Kinder, La., Johnson worked as a certified nursing assistant at Allen Parish Hospital until she moved to Lake Charles in the early ‘90s. She began working for Home Instead after a 5-year stint at a local casino. Johnson says, “One day right before the holidays I was at work and prayed, ‘God, there has to be something better than this.’” She decided to bring her resume to Home Instead on her next day off. She was hired on the spot and began working for the business in 2012.
The advice Johnson offers is “don’t go into a profession just for the money. If you don’t have the compassion for a job, you will be going to work and not enjoying what you do. You can be a good worker, but some jobs are not meant for everybody.”

The mission of Home Instead is to keep seniors in their place of residence instead of sending them to a nursing home. Johnson says the business name is perfect because clients are “staying home instead of going somewhere strange.” The benefits of home care are especially poignant for dementia patients. Home care helps clients remain in a familiar environment during a time when their memory is declining. Johnson says she watches game shows with dementia clients and encourages them to play along to keep their brain as sharp and stimulated as possible.

While Johnson was only supposed to be a part-time employee, she says she has never worked part-time. She loves her work and does as much as she can. Day to day, Johnson helps her current client by getting her out of bed, dressed, and making breakfast. She even takes her client on shopping trips. A similar routine is followed at night.

Johnson says during down time, she watches movies with clients. But she isn’t one to just sit around when something needs to be done, even if she is just providing company to the client. She scans the room and considers, “what can I do to help? What is the point of sitting when there are dishes that need to be washed?” For Johnson, the most rewarding feeling is “knowing that I’ve made a difference at the end of my shift.”