When GreatCare in-home care professional Janet Harden was growing up, she loved spending time with her grandparents. She always enjoyed helping them, listening to their stories, and hearing about life’s special moments.

“I’ve always liked older people,” Harden said. “I guess I’ve always been that kind of person.”

That compassion and interest in helping others, especially her elders, has conveyed to a two-decade career in the home-health industry. Janet recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary as a member of GreatCare’s team of dependable, in-home care professionals.

“You meet a lot of interesting people, and you hear so many stories, whether it’s a client who was over there in the war or one client I assisted who was just a very interesting lady. She was a music teacher and just a very classy lady,” Janet said. “She trusted me and she liked the way I did things. I took her to doctor’s appointments, we did word scrambles, and I stayed with her until the very end.”

As part of her role as an in-home care professional, Harden provides such valuable companionship and assistance so the seniors she works with can remain living in the comfort of their own homes. She helps cook for them and provides personal and household care, transportation to and from appointments, and morning wake-ups and evening tuck-ins in and around the Indianapolis area.

As a mother of four, Janet has a natural knack for caregiving and a true commitment to helping others. Early in her caregiving career, she received nurse’s training and worked at hospitals as a nurse’s aid and scrub tech before raising three boys and a girl at home. In November 2014, Janet and her husband, Lester, celebrated 50 years of marriage.

“My husband and I both grew up in Illinois on farms,” she said. “I worked at small hospitals for three years and actually worked in surgery. I worked under an RN and sometimes it would be everything from delivering babies to helping with surgeries.”

Today, Janet and her husband have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, with another on the way in May 2015. Janet’s nurturing nature and caregiving work have made positive impacts on her own family. She said one son is active in missionary work and volunteering on Habitat for Humanity builds. Janet and her husband are charter members of Whiteriver Christian Church, where they have been members since 1973 and she is involved with the greeter program.

Along with her role as a caregiver and her longs-standing church activity, Janet also enjoys crocheting, knitting and traveling in her free time.

——

The caregivers at Great Care are available to talk with you and your family about all of your homecare needs. Great Care is an elder care agency providing quality and affordable home care services in Carmel, IN and the surrounding areas. Call (317) 595-9933 for more information.