CT Caregiver Of The Year Honored By Assisted Living Services, Inc.

Press release from ALS, Inc.:

April 3, 2023

Live-in Caregiver Kenneth Amissah of East Hartford, Conn. has been named the Platinum Caregiver of the Year 2022 by Assisted Living Services, Inc. (ALS). The ALS team recently presented Amissah with the prestigious $5,000 award at its office in Cheshire. Amissah, originally from Ghana, Africa, was chosen from the 60 monthly winners for not only providing outstanding care for his client, but for becoming his compassionate advocate as well.

“We are thrilled to recognize Ken’s stellar support and unwavering dedication to his client,” said Mario D’Aquila, MBA and Chief Operating Officer of the family-owned homecare agency with offices in Cheshire and Westport. “Ken exemplifies the spirit of the award for home caregivers who see their work with seniors and people with disabilities not only as a rewarding job, but as a personal calling.”

D’Aquila read Amissah’s nomination at the award ceremony:

“Ken started caring for John N. of New Britain, on Nov. 29, 2018 and has been with him ever since. Ken has been a great advocate for John, encouraging him to be independent and accountable for his participation in activities of daily living. John had a conservator in the beginning of his care, however, once John was accepted to the State of CT Home Care Program for Elders, the conservator was no longer needed in assisting him. Kenneth then stepped up into a role he did not plan on taking on. For example, Ken persistently contacted John’s building manager to ensure John’s carpet was replaced after the community washing machine leaked water into his apartment. Ken and John have become great friends, someone John can trust and rely on. They go shopping, out to lunch and afternoon drives to get John out of the house and socialize. Ken encourages John to make shopping lists and purchase the items on his list when they go grocery shopping. Ken always treats John with dignity. He is proactive, sensitive to John’s abilities, and just an all-around great guy. Ken is a man of faith, kind, humble, loving and empathetic. The live-in department chose Ken to be the recipient of the Platinum Caregiver Award in October 2022, and the company as a whole has chosen Ken as the Platinum Caregiver of the year for 2022. We are so proud to have Ken as part of the Assisted Living Services family and look forward to many more years of service to our seniors.”

D'Aquila explains that the Platinum Caregiver Award program was created to acknowledge caregivers’ contributions in a meaningful way to hopefully drive change across the caregiver profession. Since its inception in March 2019, ALS has awarded more than $240,000 to over 100 staff members. Each month, five caregivers earn a $1,000 monetary bonus accompanied by a beautiful crystal statue and certificate of merit in response to an employee and client survey administered by Homecare Pulse, a third-party company that measures customer satisfaction. Caregivers can also be recognized by their clients through 5 Star Google reviews, glowing written letters, or rave reviews via emails and phone calls. Additionally, office staff can nominate caregivers for excellent work performance like covering shifts and perfect attendance.

For more than two decades, ALS has led the charge to raise the standards for quality of care across the board in the highly competitive homecare industry. Incentives and genuine appreciation for staff members are just a few of the reasons ALS has a high employee retention rate with some employees still working for the agency for nearly two decades. Managers receive incentives if quality assurance benchmarks are achieved.

ALS employs caregivers across the state, all of whom are insured, bonded, and supervised. Newly hired employees undergo a National Criminal Background Check and eVerify. All of their Personal Care Assistants who do services for clients on the CT Home Care Program for Elders have received specialized training to perform personal care or assist with activities of daily living. Additional training is provided in OSHA, Safety, Alzheimer’s Care, End of Life Care, Elder Abuse, Customer Service, and more. ALS is currently accepting applications for daily and live-in caregivers.

This press release was produced by ALS, Inc. The views expressed here are the author's own.